Cleft surgery is done

Here's a day-by-day account as written in email updates to family and friends:
TUESDAY 9/25 We report to CHOP at 6:15 tomorrow morning (Wednesday). Don't know what time the surgery will be, hopefully as early as possible. We won't be able to give Naomi ANYTHING to eat or drink in the morning. She will have three things done by three different surgeons: cleft repair, ear tubes, and a slight incision to open an eyelid more fully. She will stay in the hospital at least one night.

WEDNESDAY 9/26 Naomi's surgery lasted from 8 am to about 11 am. It took awhile for them to get her moved and settled in the recovery room, so we didn't see her until 12. She has been sleeping most of the afternoon, but is pretty unhappy when she wakes up. She only wants to sleep in our arms. All parts of the surgery went very well, but her lower face is quite swollen and she is unwilling to drink or eat yet due to the pain. She will be on the IV for awhile longer, and she is getting regular doses of Tylenol and Percoset. Ruth will stay with her overnight, and hopefully she can come home sometime tomorrow. (Once they see she is breathing well, drinking, and feeling generally comfortable.)

THURSDAY 9/27 Well, it looks like we'll be here another night. Naomi is healing well and has shown some of her usual spunk (especially this morning in the playroom), but she is still refusing to drink or eat and has a lot of discomfort in her mouth. She also really doesn't like the arm restraints. There have been a few small smiles today, but also a lot of whimpering and low energy. One nurse said that cleft palate patients have more discomfort than a lot of their other patients. But the surgeon said that by the weekend Naomi should be feeling a lot better. She was released from the IV this morning, but is back on it temporarily to rehydrate her. No one is worried about her progress at this point -- they say she will drink and eat when she is ready. We hope that time will come soon so we can get home. I didn't sleep much last night, but had a long nap in the room today so I am feeling okay.

FRIDAY 9/28 Naomi was released from the hospital at around 4:00 pm. We are so glad to be home, and Roger and I are feeling really beat. Thanks to Mom and Dad Hoover for caring for Danny for 3 days, doing laundry, preparing meals and being generally indispensable.

We were determined to get Naomi drinking and eating so we could come home, but she was a tough little customer. Around 10:30 am we got her to eat some applesauce and yogurt, but still no drinking. We tried all the drinks we could think of, in a bottle, cup, and spoon. By 2:00 pm we were desperate. I tried to think of something too good to refuse and it came to me -- a milkshake! Roger went to the McDonald's in the hospital and brought back vanilla and strawberry milkshakes. She still balked until we forced a good taste of it into her mouth. Then she was hooked. Seven ounces of milkshake later, and we got permission to go home!!

However we are still having trouble getting her to drink here at home -- please pray for that. Part of it is because she hates the arm restraints and having to let us totally feed her. She was very frustrated at supper, but Roger is very clever at distracting her and sneaking things into her mouth. I hope we won't have to keep making milkshakes. Below are a few pictures from our stay at CHOP. The doctors, nurses and facilities there are great and we are so thankful. Now it's time to flop into bed.