Palate Repair

I've been waiting to write this post up until the story was complete - and it has a very happy ending! Camilo's cleft palate surgery back at the end of November was a complete success! It was a rough experience for us all, but thanks to Camilo's masterful surgeon and his team, his extremely wide cleft closed up completely, even after a good-sized fistula opened up a couple of weeks after the repair. Now Camilo gets a reprieve from surgeries until he's about 5 years old. We're seeing speech therapists and ear/nose/throat specialists now to make sure his gets on track with normal stuff like speech, blowing, and sucking.

Recovery was waaaaay rougher on Camilo this time around. The pain meds didn't seem to do the trick so we sat with him while he screamed in recovery for hours. This photo was taken after a doctor came in and FINALLY gave him something extra for the pain. 

He started to feel much better once the nurses gave up checking his vitals (he screamed anytime they came near him with that little finger clamp!). He also perked up once they took that string off of his tongue that was taped up on his cheek - I guess this was a precaution for some babies that choke on their own tongues at first once their palate is closed.

Once we got him home and calm, we realized he was probably suffering MORE from the sores caused by the surgical clamps they used to keep his mouth open.  Poor little guy could only sleep about an hour or so at a time -on mommy's chest of course - and would wake up screaming. In retrospect, I think he was just scared!

After the first few days, Camilo was doing much better. He tolerated the no-no's (the arm braces that keep his hands away from his mouth) much better this time around, but was pretty frustrated we wouldn't let him walk around on his own. He was also on a strict ice cream diet, but eating and drinking was tough and he got so skinny!

Here are the photos the surgical team took both imediately before and after his palate repair. Two weeks after the surgery, a 3x10mm gap opened up in the margin where the hard and soft palate meet. At first assessment, we were told that it was unfortunate, but that the "fistula" would require another surgery to repair. We were DEVASTATED! But two weeks later, the hole had nearly closed up on its own and two more weeks later it was completely closed! Truly amazing!

And just a month after surgery, marking a historic chilean election, our little cleftie showing off his new smile and his returning belly!