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| "Why are these doctor people so into fish?" |
It feels like God has guided us through this challenge from before we even knew we would have Makin. We truly feel that is why we took the job in Virginia Beach. We were put with this surgeon without even asking. We had help from the CHKD team very quickly after finding out Makin had a cleft lip and palate in the womb. It was really emphasized this visit, just how blessed we were. Not only because we have the reality of changing to a different surgeon moving forward, but also because Operation Smile was doing some filming for their 35th anniversary AND they had a celebration luncheon shortly after our appointment with Dr. MaGee. We were able to meet more people affected and hear some great stories about Dr. MaGee. We were also filmed and will likely be in a video they put together for the 35th anniversary of Operation Smile. I'll post that when we see it. (Not sure when the exact date is.)
I loved hearing about how Operation Smile got started. It has been easy to dote, "Yes, his surgeon is one of the founders of Operation Smile" but it was more of a reality as another founder shared a bit of the story at lunch. (Which was really a lot of people crowded into their office waiting room, Dr. MaGee didn't want a fuss about it and his assistant said he would be annoyed at her for organizing it. :) ) Apparently the insurance system was not going to approve of these surgeries. When one of the other Doctors (who is now retired) told Dr. M this, he simply said, "Well, we need to raise money for them to have these surgeries then." His wife suggested the the idea of a run for raising funds, which they continue to do now 35 years later. Through Operation Smile they (along with other doctors who volunteer) have performed 250,000 surgeries. Brad did some reading during Makin's surgery, and it mentioned the first trip overseas to the Phillipeans, there were 300 families greeting them as they got off the airplane, and they were only able to do 40 surgeries that trip. They determined they had to come back.
One other fun moment was in the parking garage of all places. I noticed a man from the lunch coming up the stairs behind us. (He accidentally went up one extra floor...God-thing in my opinion!) I asked him how he knew Dr. MaGee. Turns out his son, who is 33 now, was born with a cleft lip and palate. His wife had some medical connections and they told him to go to Dr. MaGee. He moved from Fort Worth, Texas to Virginia in order for his son to have Dr. MaGee doing his surgeries. Now his grandson is 1 1/2 and has had Dr. M doing his surgeries until now as well. They both came down with the flu so weren't able to be at the party. What a great story! And boy I wish I would have gotten his email. I love meeting other families who go through this.
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| Indulging in a strawberry milk the day before surgery. |
Dr. MaGee felt good about the surgery and feels pretty confident we won't have a problem in this place (front of his palate) again. Sure hope he is right, but we have learned there are no guarantees. We have a "no chew" rule for food (again) to try and keep this fistula from coming back. We were all very relieved he did not have to have packing in his mouth after surgery since the hole was smaller. This made the initial recovery much easier. They also worked to open up the left side of Makin's nose, so that makes the recovery more obvious on the outside. He could hardly breath out of that side of his nose, so we felt it was necessary.
Amazingly in the recovery area we had the same nurse we had last November. She and I both recognized each other, but I was surprised she even recalled how he reacted after surgery. "I remember he is really stoic right? Doesn't want to tell you he is in pain?" He probably never remembers her because of the meds, but she is def my favorite. The funny thing is Makin is usually not that stoic when it comes to pain. He is definitely what I consider the typical male and needs a hug when he gets hurt. Surgery somehow he reacts differently. He got one dose of pain meds right out of surgery and didn't want any more after that, even though it was through his IV. Not sure where that comes from, but we respect his wishes.
He was very happy when we found out his hospital room had a DVD player. He used some of his Christmas money to buy the Nexo Knights DVD and had not seen it yet. When he found out he could watch it he clapped his hands. (He talks minimally the first 24 hours after surgery or so...)"That's the only thing I have seen bring him joy, he is going to have a DVD player!" That was another nurse who called someone to replace a broken player in his room so that he could watch his DVD.
He is such a trooper and we were thrilled to be getting out of the hospital around noon the next day. I'm still glad we stay the night just so that he has plenty of fluids in his system, but no hospital stay is any fun!
I was a little disappointed when talking with the patient coordinator about what we need to do moving forward. I really want a break from all of this, but it looks like we can't wait long before meeting with an orthodontist. Then he will asses when Makin should have something put in his mouth to spread out his teeth to make an arch. This is usually done before he turns 8 or so...crossing my fingers they will opt to wait until he IS 8. I would like a year and a half off. Then when the archway is formed, he will go in for a surgery to have a bone put into the palate. That will likely warrent another trip to VA as we are planning to use the surgeon Dr. M worked most closely with as they have similar views of how to do things. The first step is finding the right orthodontist here.
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