Lydia will only be having the ear tube procedure next week.
Due to the color of Lydia's mucus today, yes, the color of her mucus, we are postponing the soft cleft palate repair. When the nurse and I tackled Lydia on the table 3 different times over the course of 3.5 hours and her plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist depressed her little tongue, 1 out of 3 times he saw not clear mucus. He also made her little mouth bleed once and didn't even comment on it. Whatever, I'm working on getting over it. The palate repair is obviously right back there in her little mouth with all the mucus and drainage and spit, so we don't want to risk any infection lingering back there.
Due to the 5-10 oz weight loss Lydia had over the the last 2.5 weeks, we are also postponing the soft cleft palate repair. Lydia had a respiratory bug the weekend of the 11th, had increased secretions and a cough that all contributed to her vomiting, so we switched to Pedialyte for the weekend. It took a few days for her to be back on her normal calorie blended diet. She also grew 3/4 of an inch and is way more active these days. We'll meet with our dietitian next week to see about changing her diet and chunking her up for surgery. We just want Lydia to be healthy and on an upward weight gain curve since this surgery is guaranteed to come with a little weight loss. When you are only 20-21 pounds to begin with, half a pound makes a difference - just think about when you pick out your Thanksgiving turkey, 1 pound matters.
On Tuesday, December 6th Lydia will be outpatient for the ear tube procedure. We'll be home the same day. We can continue signing, doing oral tastes and trying thickened liquids, all things that would be off limits for a few weeks due to arm boards, or no-nos as the surgeon refers to them, with the palate repair. Yay! No arm boards or grumpy toddlers for Christmas!
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