An Explanation For Yesterday

So the reason that Dr. Siddiqi didn't perform the surgery was because Nathan has a prosthesis in his mouth that is held in by 2 pins that go first through the device and then up into the tissues in his mouth. There is no way that the doctor could tell that there were any problems with the tissue until he actually took out the prosthesis, which can only be done under anesthesia because they have to use a drill to unscrew them out of the mouth. When Dr. Siddiqi took out the prosthesis, he noted that the pins had substantially irritated the skin surrounding the site and so he felt that if he tried to repair the cleft yesterday that the irritated skin when pulled and sewn together would begin to tear since it had not had an opportunity to heal properly. I will have to call his office on Monday to reschedule the procedure. We have to wait at least 3-4 weeks before we can try this again. Its wierd looking inside Nathan's mouth to see the open cleft again (we haven't seen it since July of last year).

When Nathan woke up from the anesthesia yesterday he was mad! Mad is an understatement of the year. We spent almost 2 hours in the PACU (the first place you are taken after an operation) because he kept desating into the 60's. He was intubated for the surgery (which he hates) and was given enough "happy juice" for a 3-4 hour surgery. When he finally calmed down a little we were taken to the Post Operation waiting area. Poor little guy just wanted to sleep but he hates it when he has to have oxygen so he kept figiting with it. The nurse told us that she needed Nathan to be breathing on room air before we could go hom. We tried to wean him but he couldn't hold his own. Finally, I said to the nurse that I'd rather just take him home with the oxygen tank than to have to sit in this room and have Nathan restless and unhappy because of all of the other screaming children in the room. She said that it would be easer to wean him than to call the doctor because most doctors don't like sending kids home with oxygen after a surgery. I was ticked because we already have a huge oxygen tank at home, so what was the big deal? Finally, that nurse went to lunch and we had another assigned to us. We told her our plight, all about Nathan's breathing issues, and the fact that the surgery had ended at 9:00 a.m. and we were still still here. She called the doctor and because he was in the operating room again it took him a little while to respond back. He was totally fine with having us go home with oxygen. Stupid first nurse!

Nathan slept the whole car ride home, and then until 5:30 in the evening without making so much as a peep. He was awake until 8:00 p.n. and then was out like a light! He just needed to sleep off the big morning that he had had.