Maya’s surgery this past Monday went well! It only took her surgeon 1.5 hours to finish repairing her palate and also do a procedure called a pharyngeal flap. We hope this will help with her speaking and allow her to pronounce consonants better! Only time will tell! Dr. Shaheen said if this doesn’t “do the trick” he would have to reconstruct her entire mouth. This is NOT the road we want to go down so we’re praying this will be her last surgery for a while. She came out of anesthesia pretty much the same way she always does…madder than a hornet! She was hitting, kicking and pinching me. Now that we’ve been down this road a few times, I am fully prepared for it. I wear no jewelry because she tries to rip if off me and I told every person on her medical team that she would be like this when she wakes up so I need to be with her pronto! She also likes to pull the IV out of her foot, so the nurses had it taped securely to her. Once she calmed down and we get her home, she slept for a few hours in our bed. Madeline and Will are the ultimate big sister and brother. Madeline came to the hospital with us and helped calm her down post-op. Once we got home, Madeline took charge of the house so I could lay with Maya while John took Will to a movie. She did the laundry and fielded phone calls…what a girl! Before Will left for the movie, he sat with Maya holding her hand and kept telling her he loved her! On day #2 you would never even know she just had surgery the day before. She was playing, smiling and asking if she could watch her beloved Olivia TV show! She doesn’t love her liquid diet but she’s handling it well. I’ve been making her mashed potatoes diluted with chicken broth so it’s more like a thick soup. It seems to sustain her longer so she’s not hungry. She still doesn’t like milkshakes or smoothies but will drink Pediasure chocolate drinks! Go figure! I took a sip of her Pediasure and almost gagged.
On another note, we’re having a fun summer. Madeline is getting excited to start her high school at Marian. For any of you not from the area, it’s an all girls’ Catholic high school right across the street from my sister’s subdivision in Bloomfield Hills. No boys you’re thinking? Brother Rice High School is right next-door, which is the all boys’ Catholic high school. She got her uniform, ordered her books, got her schedule and made some new friends via Facebook. My niece Alex graduated from Marian so she is super excited that her cousin is following her footsteps. William starts the 4th grade this fall. Yikes! Where does the time go? I can’t believe it. He loves school for the social aspect, but not the homework! Hmmm..Imagine that?! Maya will start going to preschool in the fall too. Next week I’m heading to the Montessori preschool Will went to so I can meet with Ms. Connie. She also wants to meet Maya. We should have a busy schedule this fall with school, sports, speech therapy and whatever else seems to pop into our schedule every week!
Maya is quite a little dare devil. Her favorite thing to do up north is ride on the tube. Do you believe she yells at John to go faster every time?! And the bigger the waves the better. I’m thinking we’ll have her on water skis in a couple years. She finally went swimming in the deep with us last weekend. As long as she can hold on to someone, she’s happy. She finally figured out her life jacket would keep her floating. I’m waiting for her to jump off the boat next with her brother and sister! I’ve had to yell at her a couple times after her surgery to stop jumping off the living room furniture. I keep envisioning her hitting her mouth on something and making a mad dash to the ER.
Maya’s resilience and positive determination to overcome difficulties that most children never have to endure humbles us. She takes these surgeries in stride and always has a smile on her face the next day!
