Surgery #2

So you may have remembered my update on our Rae back in January. Well I'm here to update you again all the business that is Raegan Phair.

So back in January we were needing to get a sleep study done so they could "prove" she still had sleep apnea and tonsils needed to come out. I spent so many afternoons during nap time trying to get a hold of anyone who could get us in for a sleep study before March. FINALLY we got the call that they could get us in, but it was last minute for that evening. We needed to get it done so we did. 10 weeks pregnant, still nursing Hudson, and just plain exhausted, Rae and I headed to the hospital for her sleep study.

Sleep studies are just stressful. She didn't fall asleep till almost 9:30pm and she struggled with being ok with all the stuff on her face and head.

She kept waking up because when she'd roll over she'd get tangled in the wires. Then if anything got unhooked the sleep study techs had to come in, wake her up, and re-hook it. We didn't sleep much. The study ends around 6:30am then we headed home. She went to school like it was a regular day.

Then we waited. And waited. I finally called after 4 weeks for our results and she did indeed have sleep apnea. Something we already knew, but it was done and results were finally in. We scheduled her tonsils and tubes for March 16.

During all of this I had been working with insurance to get her speech/feeding therapy covered for in home therapy. After having doctors send in documentation they approved her in home therapy. This was huge as I knew it would be tough getting her and Hudson out of the house 3 times a week.

We started therapy the week before surgery and decided that she would have speech therapy twice a week and feeding once a week. She loves her therapist and we are so grateful for that!

Surgery day was finally upon us and we were ready to get it done and over with. The waiting room had bene redone since her palate repair with table booths and TVs. It was nice while we waited to go back for pre-op.

The tubes are the easy part, but the tonsils we worried about. Her ENT explained that since her palate has been compromised by the cleft it's very weak and he didn't want to take too much of her adenoids and not leave any muscles to support the palate. Fortunately the surgery went perfect, the palate was supported, and we were ready to start recovery.

Rae struggled coming out of anesthesia. She was wheezing and her oxygen levels wouldn't stay up. They had to do a few breathing treatments and eventually her breathing went back to normal. Sitting in post-op was so hard. She just cried and cried. She was very agitated and nothing soothed her except me singing to her. She did finally eat some popsicle and we got a silly picture from her.

They finally got us into a room and she took a much needed nap.

When she woke up she was back to her old self. She wanted milk and to watch Goldie and Bear on the ipad.

The IV annoyed her and she was so happy to get it out the next day before we went home.

We spent the night in the hospital and went home the next day.

She really did great the whole weekend! We stayed on top of her advil/tylenol rotation and thought we were out of the woods.

Then Monday hit. And so did the stomach bug. She threw up in the afternoon (in the car, bleh!) and we thought maybe it was just the medicine upsetting her stomach, but by that evening, I was starting to feel sick, and at 9pm she started throwing up again with a fever. I called her pediatrician and the nurse line at the hospital. They said as long as she wasn't throwing up blood we just needed to keep her hydrated. So we did. Then around 1030pm, the bug hit me. I threw up all night. Rae slept in the bed with me and would only go to me. So she and I spent the night running back and forth between the bathroom and the bed. Fortunately Kyle's parents took Hudson the next day and we were able to rest. Kyle and Hudson never got it and it was a short lived bug.

After the bug left the house, Rae struggled with pain. She was up every 2-3 hours every night crying. It was like having a newborn all over again, but once day 10 hit, we finally got over the hill. She was doing so much better.

Her speech is improving and so is her eating. She is gaining weight like crazy and eating everything! We've even dropped her feeding therapy as her therapist things her "picky" eating is behavioral and not a texture disorder like we originally thought.

I am hoping that we are done with surgeries for awhile for Rae or any other Sanderson kid. 3 surgeries between Rae and Hudson in 3 years is enough for this mama.