A Late Update

Ty after his cleft lip surgery in November 2007 thanks to Love Without Boundaries.

I know we are a little tardy with an update, but we found it next to impossible to blog while at the hospital. We were released on Wednesday and Ty is becoming more himself each and every day. We are so grateful for Shriners and their team of doctors, nurses and the remainder of their cleft team. They treated us with such care. The Ronald McDonal House near Loyola rocks too! Troy took us by so he could check out after we were released from the hospital and he gave us a grand tour. The house is 15 years old and modeled after the book, "The Secret Garden". The house is 39,000 square feet with 18 rooms including a secret stair case that leads to a tree house, playroom and so much more. It feels like a home and so much better then hotel life. We will be able to stay there for follow up appointments which is so great to hear!



The surgery and recovery have been so different then I anticipated. I was so concerned about keeping Ty healthy for his surgery that I didn't focus on the surgery itself. It was a huge victory and relief when the pediatrician cleared him for surgery Sunday night. It wasn't until about 6:15 Monday morning that the tears started running down my eyes as I knew I was to wake Ty up at 6:30 and dress him for surgery. I was extremely exhausted after very little sleep due to a loud crew of evening nurses. Ty had a rough time going to bed in his new surroundings and I finally had to put him in his crib and hang out in the restroom. Troy did a great job explaining the entire surgery day, but that night was HELL! Ty wanted to be held at all times and our nurse was so kind to bring in a lazy-boy type chair for us to sleep in because Ty didn't want anything to do with the crib. We got little snippets of sleep here and there in between watching PBS kids, crying, bloody drool, and nurses doing their job which Ty despised. Our last evening was better as we were released from PICU to our original room. Ty slept in his crib that night and woke up every 2-3 hours for cuddles and drinks. It is amazing what your body does on adrenaline! Now that we are home, I am EXHAUSTED! Ty still woke up every 1 1/2 hours and then finally had a three hour stretch from 3-6 a.m. My recovery worries have also been reversed. Ty does not seem to mind the elbow restraints and in fact I think he finds them comforting like newborns who are swaddled. He is able to do everything except feed himself. Feeding has become our issue. After all our practicing with the syringes, Ty puts up a fight! I have a little move that I do to restrain him to get that first taste. All is well for the most part after that. He is still not eating like he used to, but I figure it takes time and he will eat once he is starving. We are so excited my mom from Texas is coming in this evening to stay with us for a week and help out! I just want some sleep.