The Mont Southwest: September 2009

Warning: I will give details of our experience in order to better inform those parents who will be facing cleft palate surgery in the future.

Jack Henry Pre-Surgery
Well, today was the big day. Jack Henry finally had his cleft palate surgery. We arrived at OU Children's Hospital at about 5:40 a.m. this morning. Hospital registration took about 30 minutes. (The registration lady was the only one on duty when we arrived.) After about 15 minutes, we were called back to pre-surgery room where the various doctors and their residents stopped by to talk to us and get our consent for surgery. Jack Henry also had ear tubes put in and was circumsised. (On a side note: The urologist's nurse P.A. spent 20 minutes or so- trying to talk me out of the circumcision at our first appointment. It didn't work. :) Today, the resident reminded me that the circumcision was an elective procedure. There was never any doubt in my mind about whether or not to get him circumcised. This is a warning for those parents who will have to make this decision. Be informed. If you definitely want the circumcision, be firm. Since our encounter with the nurse P.A., we discovered that this is not uncommon for people in the medical field to attempt to change the parents' minds.)

I was allowed to take Jack Henry to the operating room until they put him to sleep. The anethesiologist did not get JH an IV or anything else until the laughing gas took effect. The surgery started about 7:40 a.m. and ended about 10:10 a.m. Each time one of the doctors finished his part of the surgery, he came to the waiting room and told us how their part of surgery went. The doctors also gave us care instructions before and after the surgery. Furthermore, they told us when they wanted to see us again. After we spoke with the final doctor, we waited about 20 more minutes until we were called back to the recovery room. JH was mostly out of consciousness unless he was throwing up mucas and blood. It was mostly mucas. Blake, my mom, and myself held him upright so he could throw up and then cleaned him up each time. The nurse suctioned the muscus and blood from his mouth, carefully avoiding the roof of his mouth. We stayed in recovery for almost an hour and then Jack Henry was moved to his own room.

He continued to throw up mucas with some blood. The blood turned darker, and I also noticed a few blood clots. After awhile, he just threw up fairly clear bile. Right now, he is sleeping. I am wondering if we have had "the worse" of it or if "the worse" is yet to come.