Another Surgery

On Tuesday morning Bella underwent another surgery, her sixth in all.  She had her pharyngeal flap repaired which we hope will now allow her to produce many more sounds like "p" and "b".  It will also stop her from sounding so nasal when she talks.  We are hoping this will speed up her speech and that she will have the ability to take off.

She did amazing with the surgery and after a few LONG days in the hospital was released Friday afternoon.  She was so ready to come home, but had to prove to the doctors that she could eat and drink.  The surgery is very painful.  The doctor essentially had to go in and cut the back of her throat to pull a flap forward and reattach it.  She has been through so much and we know she has a high threshold for pain, but this one was hard for her.  He hope this is it for a few years.  She will eventually have to have a bone graft taken from her hip to create her top gum line.  This probably won't happen until she is 8 or 9.

One big downside is that she now has severe sleep apnea ... at least until the swelling goes down.  So this makes for some long nights and makes it difficult for her to sleep.  She has been crying out a lot during the night.  Please pray the swelling goes down soon so she can sleep better.

We want to thank all of our family and friends who have helped us out this week and have prayed for little girl.


Here are some pics from our week ...

Bella with Daddy before surgery  (she really wasn't this happy before surgery ... smiles were rare)

 Keenan with Bella a couple of days after surgery

 Family was able to visit this time ... Bella and her mamaw

Taking a stroll with Grandpa, Grandma and daddy ... she hated being all hooked up, but was excited to get out of the room

Bella with her Papaw and Gram

 

Last morning in the hospital ... Yay!