Willow Home From Surgery

Relaxing with the crayon box before going to the hospital.

Hello Friends. I am going to post some pictures now, but I first wanted to get this text up so you all know that Willow is home. Rough day for her, hard to see her so upset and unconsolable (after the surgery). Lots of pain meds ... and then a lot more. She drank some, and ate a little at home: now asleep.
In the waiting room, still none the wiser ... but, those funny folks in the blue clothing are about to call us through the scary door.
Worst part for her is that she can't suck her "blanket wrapped thumb" because of the no-no restraints on her arms. It sends her over the edge (it was her only source of self-soothing for her first 21 months in the orphange, and has continued to be a big part of her life when comfort is sought). Okay, I'll post some more photos very soon.
Pre-surgery, in the hospital room (illustrative of the thumb and wad of blanket in her mouth). It takes a bit of material to fill up a "wide smile."

She was uncharacteristically (well, unpredicted) happy pre-surgery (after a few tears); her protruding premaxilla is very visible below (post surgery, this is now pulled back into her mouth).

Willow's been happy like this for many, many weeks (since we got home from China). I forgot how sad and upset she could get (until later this day).

Willow's team of doctors work here. Very cool part of the day: I got to go back to the operating room with Willow, and hold her while they put her to sleep (surrounded by a team of very capable and compassionate doctors). It looked just like it does on television, actually.

Many of you know that I really wanted to spend some time as a nurse in a children's hospital ... this may be as close as I get.

Out of the operating room; in recovery room (we ended up there for about 3 hours ... much longer than expected). Willow cried for a full hour, at least; Chris cried and felt faint watching her writhe in discomfort. I felt helpless (a first ... usually there is something I can do to help; not this time).

Finally, asleep (her mouth is filled with wire and plastic now, but it is hard to see. If you zoom in, you can see the wire around (and through) her premaxilla (which is back about 1/2 cm and now completely vertical). Four additional screws anchor the palate expander in the roof of her mouth and provide anchor-points for bands that continue to pull the premaxilla back.

She drank a lot of juice once awake; I was able to feed her a little bit when we got home, though tears began to flow again because she couldn't feed herself (because of the arm braces, pictured below) and, I suppose, because the pain makes her miserable. The dogs were so quiet and gentle with her tonight (she definitely smells like a hospital).

Goodnight. Thank you for your prayers and heartfelt wishes for Willow's speedy recovery from pain and trauma.