It seems like each surgery gets harder and harder, but in different ways. Harder because he's getting older each surgery, but easier because I feel like we've done it a thousand times. There were specific challenges with this last soft palate surgery that he didnt have for his lip repair. The first 3 days were hell. He was hardly eating anything, and did horrible on his pain meds. Sleeping was out of the question. The first few nights was just screaming, and us forcing pain killers down his throat. Day 4 and 5 he finally started eating. He did lots of smoothies and protein shakes, pudding, and gatorade was something he seemed to like. He wasn't really eating normal again for about 2 weeks, and couldn't get into a normal sleep routine for about 4 weeks after. It was rough, so terribly rough. I think I mentioned in my last post that Dr Schmelzer was a little disappointed that his soft palate hadn't come together more on its own, but still was ok to so the surgery. They really had to stretch it to be able to close it, but he was over all pleased with the surgery. We are scheduled to meet up with our team up at Primary Childrens in a couple months to talk about the next step and to see if he needs an added surgery on his soft palate before they do the hard palate in a few years. We really can't say enough how much we love Dr Schmelzer. For those of you who are searching for surgeons or need info on him let me know. He really is so amazing and I know with out a doubt that things wouldn't have gone so well with Riley had we picked some one else.
Ry is almost 2 now and has a big break between now and his hard palate surgery, and its been so nice! He is seriously just the sweetest babe on the planet. He's so mellow and is such a little lover. In a way it surprises me he's so mellow, considering what he goes through. I was so worried after his first surgery that it would eventually effect his personality negatively and make him kind of aggressive but he's not at all. I wouldn't change a thing about him. Nothing gets me like his crooked smile. Me and Mac have looked inside his mouth and are pretty sure he's only missing one tooth, just his lateral. I'm so relieved. Knowing what Mac went through with all of his dental surgeries and the nightmare that it was for his has had me most worried, but it seems like Riley only has the one tooth missing so far. His cleft was so wide I don't know how its possible but it is.
I will hopefully get another update posted as soon as we meet with our team this year and we get more info on whats to come. Thanks for all the support and love.
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