Almost. {Smile.} Kai turns two on the 14th, but we had a family get-together for him this weekend to celebrate his birthday. Kai is scheduled to have another surgery this week so we had his party a few days early. Our little guy is too quickly becoming a big boy.
On Wednesday, Kai will have his palate reconstructed. His open palate was closed in China last March, weeks before we were able to meet him, but unfortunately the results were less optimal and need to be redone. Kai's palate required several months of healing before it could be re-attempted which is why we are doing it at such a late date.
Kai's surgeon will go in and attempt to reconstruct his soft and hard palate. This is very important in order for Kai to be able to develop the sounds required for speech. At present, Kai has a large open gap behind his gumline and at least one fistula (that I can see) in his soft palate. His speech has been coming along beautifully, however, without a fully closed palate, and a soft palate of appropriate length, certain sounds cannot be made.
Kai will have a highly restrictive diet for at least 6 weeks to allow for healing. During this time, nothing will be allowed to enter Kai's mouth (other than his "food"). Kai will be fed using a syringe, open cups, and eventually over-sized serving spoons that are too big for his mouth. The repaired palate tissue is quite thin and is at risk for developing fistulas (holes/tears) until it is fully healed. Because Kai has pre-existing scarring, it will be even more critical that we take extra care to follow feeding protocols. The first two weeks are strictly liquid diet. The liquid must easily pour off of a spoon. Even runny Cream of Wheat must be put off until later weeks because particles of food could become trapped in the sutures and cause Kai to try to remove them with his tongue.
If the doctor gives us the okay, we can start to make his meals a little thicker each week. In the final weeks, Kai will be able to eat "soft" foods that can be easily mashed (i.e. overcooked noodles, undercooked eggs). Our food processor is going to be pureeing up a storm. I've been collecting recipes from other families with cleft affected kiddos. It's been enormously helpful. Kai is also lactose-intolerant so I've needed to take that into consideration when coming up with post-op meal ideas.
Kai's last surgery was a real doozie for all of us. I am predicting that blog posts will be few and far between until we are over the worst of it, but I will try to give updates every few days. Please keep him in your thoughts.
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