The Road to Recovery

Maya has been unbelievable with her recovery.  She slept well the first couple nights.  The only time I had to get up with her each night was to give her more pain medication.  She isn’t enjoying her liquid diet, but we’re trying our best.  She likes cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and yogurt.  She’s never been a milkshake, ice cream, smoothie or popsicle girl, so she’s been snubbing those things.  I’ve tried every smoothie concoction in the world, but she refuses to drink any of it.  She loves to help me put all the ingredients in the blender, but that’s about it.  We go back to Dr. Shaheen this Tuesday for him to look over her mouth.  I’m beyond stressed that she’s popped a hole in her palate.  Dr. Shaheen told us it happens a lot and there’s nothing we can do about it.  He would just have to go back in and repair it.  I can’t even imagine going through this surgery process again.  Keep your fingers crossed everyone she hasn’t used her tongue to pop through her palate!  I’ve looked at her mouth quite a few times but it’s hard to see anything because she still can’t open her mouth up that wide.  Last Thursday, Ryan & Patrick (Will’s buddies) came over and ended up having a Nerf gun battle in our house.  Guess who was in the middle of it all?!  Yes, my little post-op baby ran around trying to shoot the boys.  Thankfully the boys knew to be careful around Maya.  She had a ball!  It’s amazing to me how quickly children can recover from a surgery.  The first couple days after Maya’s surgery I must have read “Good Night Moon” 1000 times.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  I will do whatever it takes to keep Maya happy, but I have to say, I was happy when she ran off on her own and I could read my own book!  On Friday I left the house for the first time since Monday.  Grandma & Papa Rose watched Maya so I could run some errands.  I ran through Costco like a kid in a candy shop.  I was so excited to get out and shop in peace.  Usually I’m keeping an eagle eye on Maya because she’s either trying to climb out of the shopping cart or put everything under the sun into the cart.  John booked a trip for us to go to Florida over spring break.  We’re all excited.  I can’t wait to see Maya on the beach for the first time.  We found a beautiful condo to rent right on the ocean.  We have a private pool and beach for our use.  Whoo Hoo!  We’re going to plan a day trip to Key Largo one day while we’re down there.  What a great trip for Maya after all of this surgery craziness!  My sister, Nan, had surgery on her hernia on Saturday.  She’s still in a lot of pain but recuperating well at home.  My brother-in-law, Murray, and I have joked that we should get a “tri-fecta” discount at Beaumont for my father-in-law, Maya and Nan’s surgeries! 

Maya's Big Surgery Day! 2/28/11

Maya woke up the morning of her surgery at 5:15 AM rearing to go!  You would think we had a trip planned to Disney!  She was smiling, laughing, dancing.  It made my heart break more because I knew what was in store for her.  We got to Beaumont by 6:15 AM and waited for about 15 minutes until they called us back.  Madeline missed school in the morning so she could be with her little sister.  I’m so happy Madeline was there because Maya loves her so much.  Madeline laid with her in the bed up until they took her to the OR.  About 20 minutes before Maya went into the OR they gave her a little “kiddy cocktail” to loosen her up.  At first she was laughing then about 10 minutes into it, she started looking like she was a hippie child from the 60’s!  Life was groovy!  We were all cracking up watching her.  When they took her back to the OR, she went to the nurse Anesthetist, Tamara, with no problem.  Then as they walked away, Maya looked at me and started calling out, “Mama!”  Yes, it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do since becoming Maya’s mom, but she needed this surgery.  I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry.  I kept saying to myself, “Pull it together Kris, you need to be strong for Maya!”  The wait began…Luckily for us there’s a Starbucks inside of Beaumont, so I was able to have a Chai Latte and chill out for a while.  The ENT came out of the OR about 20 minutes after Maya was whisked away and told us when he put the tubes in her ears, tons of fluid came out.  I’m thinking Maya will now think we’re all yelling since she’ll be able to hear us better!  Her surgery to repair the palate took about 2½ hours.  Dr. Shaheen came out and told us he was able to repair the entire palate and it was quite frankly, huge and her mouth was a bit of a mess.  He also told us that there is no way her palate would have been repaired correctly in China, it would have been too big of a job for them.  Can I say again how thankful we are that a skilled U.S. surgeon repaired her palate?!  Once they took John and I into recovery, I honestly will say it took my breath away when I saw Maya.  Her mouth was full of blood and she was not a happy camper.  I held her as she thrashed and cried.  When they gave her another dose of Tylenol 3 that seemed to take the edge off of things.  She HATED the IV in her foot so the one nurse looked at her said, “Maya – do you want me to take that out?!”  Maya looked at her and nodded yes!   She finally relaxed and fell asleep in my arms.  We had the BEST nurses in recovery.  They were all so sweet and just loved Maya.  Every nurse in that area actually came back to see her.  The nurse Anesthetist came back to check on her and we chatted for a bit.  She has 2 daughters adopted from China.  Her youngest, who is 21 months old, is from Maya’s province (yea for the Spicy Girls)!  The BIG news we got in recovery is that Dr. Shaheen put her down as an outpatient and we had orders to take her home.  I was surprised but honestly, much happier that she would be able to recover in her house.  Dr. Shaheen came back to check on Maya and told us the reason he wanted her to go home was because she would rest much better and it was better for all of us sleep wise.  He could not have been more right!  When I took Maya to our bed she just collapsed into the pillows and crashed out.  I had beach towels everywhere because her mouth and nose were leaking blood so much.  She looked so pathetic but I know she felt better in her own house.  John and I lied with her and tried to keep her as comfortable as we could.  She didn’t want to drink anything but we managed to get some liquids into her.  Thank goodness for Tylenol 3.  The minute that stuff starts wearing out, you can tell.  It was a long day and my nerves were frazzled, but we got through it.  I can’t say enough to all my awesome friends for texting me nonstop throughout the procedure and afterward to check up on Maya and send us their prayers.  And a big thank you to my sister, Nan, for picking Madeline up at the hospital to take her back to school.  My sweet mom, God love her, came to our house at 5:30 AM so we could take off for the hospital and she got Will off to school.  Then she came right to the hospital to sit with us during the operation.  I was happy she got to come back in the recovery and see her little Maya.  Grandma Rose came to our house after to bring Maya a “get well” gift.  That perked her up for a bit.  And my friend Vicki, who is in China right now adopting her little Molly Kate…Maya’s friend from the orphanage.  In the midst of her crazy adventure, she took the time to let everyone know about Maya’s surgery and ask for prayers in her blog!  THANK YOU EVERYONE!  I can’t say enough about how lucky our Maya is to have all of you in her life!  

Maya didn't like her hospital bracelet- Not pretty enough!











She liked the teddy bear she got!





Being cute and cuddling with Mama!





Poor baby!