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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Hoo Ha and 1st surgery Done!

We have been super busy!!! Graeme saw the cleft palate team in Louisville a few weeks ago. All went well and we met with many different specialists. They have scheduled his palate surgery for October 14 (one day after his third birthday). We also found out that he had fluid in both ears and due to the circumstances, it was probably long standing fluid. We were going to have the surgery for P.E. tubes when we had the palate surgery but since we couldn't schedule the palate surgery for 3 months, we decided we better go ahead with the tube surgery. Graeme had the surgery this last Monday and he did great!

The physician did say that the fluid in his ears was very thick and we can already tell a difference in his hearing. I am so glad that we did not wait. He is currently working with a speech therapist weekly (she is also one of his Godmothers and my business partner and sister of the heart).......so he is in excellent hands regarding language and speech development. He is saying more and imitating to the best of his ability. One of his favorite sayings is "Hoo Ha!" with thumbs up...his cute approximation of Good Job! He uses this quite frequently throughout the day.

We are looking forward to his surgery in October and hoping for a good result. His palate has a narrow opening in the front behind his teeth and widens in the back. Our surgeon is not sure how far back he will be able to build the palate. He did state that due to the way his lip was repaired in China that he will probably end up with a small fistula (hole in the palate behind his teeth) following this surgery. We hope that will heal in time.

Other fun things:

  • He wakes with a smile every morning and usually lays down at night with a huge grin.
  • He openly hugs and kisses all of us throughout the day
  • He LOVES to eat especially raw veggies and fruit.....his eyes light up in the produce part of the grocery store....I just wish we lived close to a Farmer's Market...oh the Joy that would bring!
  • He thinks he is as big as Lily and tries everything she does. He even jumped off the diving board (with floaties on and me catching him) on his fourth visit to the pool.
  • He loves to play dress-up with Lily and is adorable with his spikey hair and Cinderella high heels (that will be a picture to haunt him in the future).
  • Each day, he is testing the limits and learning the rules....behind that grin is a 2 year old struggling for independence.
  • Last week, I heard "I uh oo" (I Love You!)

I am so blessed!

8 comments:

Kristin said...

Love the story of the heels and princess stuff! That would be my son with his older sister too. :-) Daddy did not like it very much.

Sounds like Graeme is doing really well. so glad his ear tube stuff was smooth and you can already see a difference. How wonderful!

FHL said...

He sounds like such a sweetie!

Have you ever visited Special K?
(http://ladmans.blogspot.com/) Her sweet little guy just finished a series of cleft surgeries. I've learned so much and she's a wonderful person. Thought you might want to peek at her blog if you haven't already.

Chelley said...

hugz to you and so cool that Graeme is already hearing the differece in the hearing

Waitingfaithfully said...

Margaret,

Love the update! "Hoo Ha" Graeme on having your first surgery done! Glad it helped!

Graeme's palate surgery is scheduled right behind Teddi's, her surgery is scheduled for September 30th. They may or may not put tubes in during her surgery, we haven't heard the final "call" from the ENT yet.

Sounds like Graeme's speech is coming along -- aren't they amazing little sponges . . . soaking everything up? Teddi's favorite phrase right now is "Oh meh" (oh man) she's so silly!

Good to catch up with you! So happy our babies are both home, and thriving!!

Blessings~

Tina

Rachel said...

Wow, it sounds like he is doing great! I love that he is trying to say things - Lily starts speech next week and I'm so excited for her to start trying to say more words. Glad to hear the 1st surgery went well!

marybob143@aol.com said...

Everybody is settling in!!!! Yay for your family!!!! ADORABLE pictures! Oh, yeah, he'll die repeatedly when he sees those pictures as a teenager! I love letting them do their own thing at this age! Lord knows they have to conform soon enough! He's obviously very happy! Graeme and Lily are just too cute! Lily looks like she's really enjoying her role as big sister!

Laura and Erik said...

I love the pictures! We had Niklas' cleft appointment a week ago and haven't heard when they might do the surgery. The ENT wants tubes put in ASAP and it is going to be Aug. 12 unless we can get them to do palate surgery soon. Niklas and Ellie Grace are really starting to play together better.

k1 said...

One of my pastors is a 6'3, 350lb former soldier and football player. He loves to tell about how when he was a little boy he would dress up in his sisters' ballerina clothes, complete with tutu, and dance around the house. His mom belittled him for it. But, he said it made him a better dad to his daughters years later because he knew how to play girls' stuff.