Anna underwent her first surgery to repair her cleft lip on Friday, June 6. The surgery was performed at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga, Tn. After anesthesia had been administered, the ENT on our cleft team, Dr. St. Charles, placed tubes in Anna's ears. Anna had fluid in her ears, as most cleft babies do, but fortunately has not had any ear infections up to this point. It is very common for babies with clefts to have hearing loss due to the fluid that collects in their ears, so this procedure is routine for most babies with Anna's condition. Anna will be receiving speech therapy throughout the early part of her life due to this occurrence.
Dr. Sidney Cox then performed the extensive part of the surgery by placing a Latham device in Anna's mouth. The Latham device works by the doctor inserting the device in Anna's mouth and anchoring it with four metal posts. Next, a pin is used to pierce the protruding gum and anchor the device to the back side of her gum. The device has a screw that we will turn daily and small chains that pull the protruding gum and lip into Anna's mouth over the course of the next two months. The screw caused discomfort for the first week following the surgery because it had to callous a spot on her tongue as she swallowed or ate. Fortunately, Anna is now trying to talk again, cooing and laughing, even though she sounds kinda hoarse. She did remarkable with the surgery, considering the pain and discomfort that followed. She did not sleep the first night and me and my mom had to "tag team" so that we could attempt to feed her an ounce of fluids every hour to keep her hydrated. She did not want to eat and had trouble returning immediately to the bottle and her typical nipple. She was fairly content the next day, as we kept her medicated with Motrin and Tylenol. She drank Pedialyte in small amounts for the next few days and we tried to get her to take her milk, but she would not return to her regular diet. I finally decided to mix the Pedialyte with her milk after she continued to refuse plain milk, fearing she would begin to lose weight and especially not wanting her to get dehydrated. She is still taking 1/2 ounce of Pedialyte with her milk a week following the surgery. I hope to wean her from it in the next few days, but she is back to taking a total of between 21 and 23 ounces of fluids in 24 hours, so I am just pleased that she had made this progress. We did have a scare on Monday following her check-up at Dr. Cox's office. Anna had a low-grade temperature and we think she had a virus, so we had to go to our pediatrician as soon as we arrived back in Knoxville. She sounded horrible and looked pale. After monitoring her the next few days, the doctor felt like we could avoid having to give her antibiotics. She is doing much better now. We go back to Dr. Cox on Wednesday, June 18th for another adjustment.
We will be making weekly trips to Chattanooga to see Dr. Cox so that he is able to make adjustments to the device. Anna has nasal stints attached to the device that have wires running into her nose. These stints apply pressure on her nose to keep her nose from collapsing and being flat when the lip surgery is performed. The device will stay in Anna's mouth until her surgery on August 20th. The next surgery will be performed by Dr. Larry Sargent to sew Anna's lip and gums together.
We enjoyed our stay in Chattanooga following the surgery. Gordon and Gail Roderick, members at Hixson First Baptist where Mark served on staff for two years, allowed us to stay with them following Anna's surgery. I traveled with the Roderick's to do mission work in the Ukraine for two summers while we were at Hixson FBC, so it was a blessing to spend time with them in their home. We were advised to stay in the area in case we had any problems and Anna needed to be seen, so this was an enjoyable experience. They fed us all weekend and Gail even got Anna to sleep numerous times by walking her and rocking her.
We will keep you updated on Anna's progress, as this is just the beginning of this journey for us. Samuel just celebrated his second birthday and is doing well with all the doctor visits and travels. Mark's mother was able to keep him during the surgery and throughout the "sleepless" weekend, which was a huge blessing to us. He did come visit us at the Roderick's home on Saturday and got to stay with us on Thursday preceding Anna's surgery. Please continue to remember him in your prayers, as Anna's condition requires a lot of attention at times. It could be easy for him to feel neglected, especially by mom at times, dealing with all the feeding challenges. He has been so loving and compassionate towards Anna and we are so thankful for this.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We know that God has sustained us so far and we look to Him to help us through these next few months, preparing for our next surgery. God bless each of you for remembering us.
"The LORD is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed." -Psalm 28:8
3 comments:
God is so good and has really been at work in the lives of the Carr family in the last 4 months. There lies great things ahead for all of you, I really believe!
Psalms 105:1-5 Give thanks until the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto him; talk of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength; seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders and the judgments of his mouth.
Joy Stilen sent me your link. Thinking about you and praying for you during this very intense time.
Joy Lambert Ryan
Just wanted you to know that we are thinking and praying for Anna, Samuel and you all. God works some of his greatest miracles through the lives of his smallest children. We love you guys.
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