What to expect? Palate surgery in 2 wks!

Karen - posted on 06/20/2012

Sorry for posting so late. How's your daughter doing? I never had problems with fevers, I hope it wasn't an infection. Is she eating better now tho?

Simone - posted on 05/25/2012

Hello my daughter is 16 months n just had her palate surgery yesterday after having it rescheduled 4times.she only had to stay over night n her daughter said she can do everything the way we been doing just give her soft food till her follow up.the only thing I'm Gavin a problem with is she keeps getting fevers has anyone else had this problem

Karen - posted on 04/29/2011

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that. :(
I hope the little guy feels better soon and hopeful you get that surgery next month. I bet the waiting is just killing you. My LO ended up with a fever too, a week after surgery and pretty sick right now. Stupid flu.

Syahmien - posted on 04/28/2011

dear becca & karen,
my son operation has to be reshedule due to he's having fever .. the temp increase from 37 to 39 . So the surgeon advise me to reshedule the date. Might be next month. Will inform u guys on the date later when the Hospital notified me .. Thanks for the support ;)

Karen - posted on 04/21/2011

Good luck to you! I'm sure you're little one will do great! Just do what Rebecca suggested and stay on top of the nurses giving pain meds. We were put on a different ward this time because the floor we were suppose to be on was over-full. Anyways, the first night we were there I was greatful that cleft palate nurse from the clinic came to see us because the baby was just whining in his sleep. The hospital nurses said that his morphine (in his I.V.) was fine the way it was, but the cleft palate nurse said that it could be turned up more and was able to hunt down the Plastic Surgeon to talk to the nurses about it.
Getting him to start to take the cup is a good idea. Expect him to get more on himself than in his mouth LOL. Let us know how everything went!!

Syahmien - posted on 04/20/2011

hi karen .. i am happy to hear that your baby is doing fine .. next will be my baby's turn on 28th April 2011. Hope everthing will be fine. I will get my son to drink using the cup.

Karen - posted on 04/17/2011

Well, we're home. We were able to leave after 3 days(a day earlier than they were expecting), only because the day they were going to wean him off the I.V morphine drip, he decided to yank the stupid thing out. LOL. So the nurses decide to see how'd he do without it, instead of trying to put it back in. He was not allowed to have his bottle (drs. orders) so he will only drink maybe 2 ounces at a time, but he is eating fine. I wish I could take off his splints but he goes for the mouth right away. I expect that it's Ichy from healing. We did get a surprise, and just before they took him for surgery the plastic surgeon decided that he was going to do a lip revision and fix his nose while he was at it. Poor little guy is a little cranky (to be expected) but we did get a perscription for morphine. Travis is a tummy sleeper so after the 1st night I had the nurses hunt me down a swing or something just to get him to settle. He's getting better about it now.
I don't know what to do about his drooling. I mean it was bad before and now it's worse. He's got a drool rash around his neck and chest. We go through 8-10 bibs a day! I'm sure that in a few months we'll look back and say "well it wasn't sooo bad." LOL

Rebecca - posted on 04/12/2011

It was only a couple of days until she was eating normally...the drinking took longer. I couldn;t get her to drink from any cup, so I had to stick with the bottle. Now she drinks great from a sippy cup (with no valve) and pretty good from an open cup. She was only cranky for a day or two...it got better quick. She hated the splints - and so did I. To tell the truth, when she was sitting with me or right in front of me, I took them off - she didn;t want to touch her mouth anyway. I suspect she would have done more damage with her tongue anyhow. I hope your surgery goes well - and please, don;t hesitate to stay in touch! I have always wanted to be in touch with other moms going through this...it's noice to know that there is someone else out there going through the same stuff. We live in Leduc and therefore had our surgery at the Stollery at the University of Alberta hospital. I have heard that Calgary is great too. All of my best wishes are with you guys today!

Karen - posted on 04/09/2011

Thanks Rebecca!
I sure hope that he gets pain meds!! On his lip (he was able to get his gums done at the same time) the nurses gave him something every 2 hrs, alternating with tylanol and morphine, so I hope they do the same this time. We were told by the doctors that they wanted him to be on a cup (not a sippy) so that he doesn't wreck his stitches. He will take it, but doesn't drink as much (and it's easier just to give the bottle. LOL). Anyways, I will be taking both with me.

Waking every 2 hrs for 4 wks!!!! That sounds awful. How was she with the arm splits? Was she really cranky after? How long before she was eating normally? I am soo nervous about this. We live close by you in Rocky Mtn. House! However, we are having surgery at the Calgary Childrens Hospital.
Thanks for letting me know a little of what to expect!
I'll definately be in contact.

Rebecca - posted on 04/08/2011

Hi Karen! My daughter (now 15 months) had her cleft palate repaired this past October. She was in hospital 2 nights -they were ready to discharge her after the first night, but kept her by my request because I couldn;t get her to drink her bottle. The funny thing was that she was able to eat her baby food perfectly fine (although some still came out her nose, b/c her gum will be done in a couple of years, so there is still a hole). I am a registerd nurse myself (not pediatric) and I found I had to really be an advocate for her pain control after surgery. The nurses were reluctant to give her pain meds on a regular basis but I kept note of when she was due for tylenol, advil and codeine and made sure she always had something. I don;t think it's fair for a little baby to have to experience pain when they are unable to request something! Anyway, in hospital for 2 nights. She went from sleeping through the night before surgery to waking every 2 hours post-op - this went on for probably 4 weeks until I was brave enough to let her soothe herself back to sleep - really, until the arm splints came off.

The thing I hated was the SURGICEL packing through her palate - I am not sure if every surgeon does it this way - but imagine a ton of gauze soaked in betadine (like iodine) packed into the roof of your mouth that takes 10 days to 2 weeks to dissolve - I don;t even want to think about the food and milk that must have been stuck there! I found I had to squeeze her bottles into her mouth againwhile she swallowed (she had figured out chewing on the nipple to get milk out - I used PLaytex Drop Ins and cut the fast nipples a little extra big and squeezed the liners to flow the milk into her mouth). After the surgery, I found she drank more from sippy cups (Gerber Graduates with the valve removed) than her bottle - it made her easy to wean.

Anyhow - this is turnign out to be long - I am very intersted in corresponding with you if you are intersted - I am on FB at Rebecca Mills in Edmonton or my email is rlmills77@hotmail.com. PLease ask me ANYTHING - and know that my very best wishes are with you next Tuesday. Becky

Syahmien - posted on 04/08/2011

Hello karen, my little one will be having the surgery too on 28th April .. I also do not know what to expect.. i hope u can share your expirences ..