Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Follow-up surgery scheduled...
...for Thursday, probably in the afternoon.
We had our appointment with the pediatric ENT surgeon this morning. She was very pleased with Rowan's tongue movement, and with the fact that the swelling seems to be greatly reduced.
All that said, there is still a lot of extra tissue connecting her tongue to the floor of her mouth, and pushing her tongue up from a normal position. This is what they're planning on excising, allowing Rowan more freedom of movement and a more natural positioning for her tongue. We're all hoping that the tissue is well stratified allowing for easier removal with less chance of causing damage to the attached tongue and mouth floor; meaning that it's easy to determine what is tongue and mouth and what is cyst tissue. We won't know for certain, though, until after the surgery. Also, following the surgery, Rowan will probably have to spend anywhere from a day to a few days, back in the hospital in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) until her tongue heals enough for her breathe without the breathing tube (which will go in during the surgery) and to resume regular feedings.
Changing gears a bit, these past two days have been hectic and definitely tiring, but it's been great to have everyone home together. Pippa seems to be fascinated by Rowan (or 'Ro-Ro' as she calls her) and has only had a couple meltdowns when she wanted to be picked up and read to while I've been feeding Rowan-- perhaps her first inclination that her world has been radically changed without her consent? The dogs seem to be accepting of Rowan as well, so that's also been a relief. Emily's recovery is going much better and quicker than it did with Pippa and she's looking forward to getting more mobile and being able to pick up Pippa again soon (the cut-off is 20 lbs -- which Pippa clearly exceeds).
We had our appointment with the pediatric ENT surgeon this morning. She was very pleased with Rowan's tongue movement, and with the fact that the swelling seems to be greatly reduced.
All that said, there is still a lot of extra tissue connecting her tongue to the floor of her mouth, and pushing her tongue up from a normal position. This is what they're planning on excising, allowing Rowan more freedom of movement and a more natural positioning for her tongue. We're all hoping that the tissue is well stratified allowing for easier removal with less chance of causing damage to the attached tongue and mouth floor; meaning that it's easy to determine what is tongue and mouth and what is cyst tissue. We won't know for certain, though, until after the surgery. Also, following the surgery, Rowan will probably have to spend anywhere from a day to a few days, back in the hospital in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) until her tongue heals enough for her breathe without the breathing tube (which will go in during the surgery) and to resume regular feedings.
Changing gears a bit, these past two days have been hectic and definitely tiring, but it's been great to have everyone home together. Pippa seems to be fascinated by Rowan (or 'Ro-Ro' as she calls her) and has only had a couple meltdowns when she wanted to be picked up and read to while I've been feeding Rowan-- perhaps her first inclination that her world has been radically changed without her consent? The dogs seem to be accepting of Rowan as well, so that's also been a relief. Emily's recovery is going much better and quicker than it did with Pippa and she's looking forward to getting more mobile and being able to pick up Pippa again soon (the cut-off is 20 lbs -- which Pippa clearly exceeds).
