Visit to Surgeon today

First of all, I wanted to tell you that Cainan LOVES the pediasure!!! I knew he would. He drank about 3 cans yesterday so that is good. That should help pack on the pounds and give him the nutrients he needs to be heathly. Especially with upcoming surgery.
Anyway, today's visit went well. We were there about 3 hours. Again, it is good that Cainan is a good boy - my other two would have been crazy in an office that long! But he was very patient. Dr. Stelnicki, the surgeon who will do his repair, was VERY, VERY nice. I have been a pediatric nurse for 10 years, and I can tell you that nice surgeons are few and far between. They took some pictures of his cleft and had a few other people come and check it out (surgeons love a challenge!). Dr. Stelnicki said that because of the degree of his cleft, he will do two different surgeries. First, he will have his lip closed and repaired. This surgery has been set up for September 15 - only two and a half weeks away! The dr. felt that Cainan's chances for infection were much less if he did the lip and palate repair separately. I was a little disappointed with this news because I was really hoping he wouldn't need to go back so soon. But whatever is best, we will do. Then on November 12th, Cainan will have his palate closed. Both surgeries take a few hours, and then about a 3 day stay in the hospital after each. Dr. Stelnicki felt that Cainan was looking at a minimum of 8 surgeries between now and when he reaches adult hood. After these two big surgeries, most are cosmetic, with one more large one around the age of 8 (too much to explain). So not bad. I figured he would have between 8-15 surgeries- that is the norm. But these first two are the biggest, and we are really looking forward to them. I am anxious for him to have the chance to learn to eat properly and speak, etc.
Also, Dr. Stelnicki suggested we have tubes put in Cainan's ears. He felt that kids with clefts like his really have poor hearing due to large amounts of fluid that builds up behind the ear. We already know it is there - he had a hearing test to test ear drum movement on Monday, and there wasn't any. He hears fine, but we probably sound muffled to him. We are going to try and coordinate to have the ear, nose, and throat surgeon put the tubes in his ears while he is under for his lip surgery. We hope so - we don't want him to have to have yet another separate surgery for something so minor. I called the ENT dr., but of course - for those of you who live in South Florida will understand - I didn't get a call back. Try again tomorrow!
Then, the heart murmur. Dr. Stelnicki took a listen, and he said that the murmur seemed very slight, and he didn't hear a click. He thinks that nothing more than Cainan having to be on antibiotics prior to surgery will have to be done, but definitely wanted him to see the cardiologist before the surgery would take place. I was glad to hear from another doctor that the murmur seems to be minor.
Last - the flat head! Yes, everyone, he does have a flat head. It isn't that noticeable because his hair is growing in nicely in the back, but when it is wet, or flattened, you can tell. Dr. Stelnicki - being in the field - noticed as well, and recommended that we put Cainan in a helmet to help round his head out. He will wear it 23 hours a day for a few months until is shapes a little nicer. since he is a boy, we wanted to make sure that he could wear his hair short if he wanted, and he wouldn't be teased. So today he got scanned and measured for his helmet, and it will be in on the 11th, and that is when we will start to wear it. I think he will wear it until about Christmas time. I know many of you have never heard of this, and once we have him in it, we will take pictures so you can see. It is very cute, actually - not like a bike helmet or anything. It forms around his head and is open on the top.
So there you go! That was our appointment. Very successful. He is going to be a busy boy. The last two things we are going to look into is getting a patch for his eye - with tends to be a little lazy and cross, and splints for his thumbs. He never learned to use his thumbs, so he tucks them in toward his palm when he picks things up - he doesn't use them to get small things. A physical therapist friend will make us little soft splints that go around his thumbs to pull them out, so he gets used to using them.
I know he sounds like a mess, but he is TYPICAL orphanage material. Actually, compared to some of the kids of the people Mat traveled with, he is among the healthiest and happiest. We can't complain. One of the biggest reasons we decided to adopt was to give a child a home who may not have had one otherwise due to special needs. His needs are managable by us, and we are so very very lucky that he is ours.
Enjoy some pictures of our crazy bunch!

This is Cainan checking out the camera
The bad babies break into the bathroom. Caina hadn't been in here before and wanted to check it out! Finley is just bad.
Arlington tried to keep them out - but the babies are not match for her!
"That's right, Cainan - go ahead and touch it, you won't get in trouble!"