Clinic Day

Today was our marathon clinic day with Ben at the IWK. Overall the doctors are very pleased with how well Benjamin has been doing as of late.

Plastics/Cleft Palate team was our first stop. Ben has gained weight and grown well. The surgeon is happy to proceed with his palate closure. The wide u shaped cleft has narrowed and they feel that now is the time to act. Dr. Bezhuly is arranging a preadmission visit and scheduling the surgery for right away. The way he is talking I am thinking between now and by the end of January at the latest.

ENT was next. Dr. Hong was please with his ears. Both ears were free of fluid and no signs of infection. All of Ben's hearing screens have come back excellent and he has only had a few infections. Over all Dr. Hong thinks we will be able to avoid having tubes placed. As long as Ben's next hearing screen is clear, and we can avoid infections we should be okay. The plan is still to have a really good look in his ears when he is under anesthetic for his palate repair and decide then. Regardless he will clean out Ben's ears on the day of surgery. Fingers crossed.

Today we met Ben's pediatric dentist. It really wasn't anything more than an introduction and how the dentistry/orthodontic service will be involved with Ben in the years to come. His (2) teeth are fine, which we figured they would be. We were prepared about the issues with a cleft palate and teeth. Then with the complications of the jaw distraction surgery and his teeth. There will be involvement from a pediatric orthodontist prior to his third birthday. All issues will be seen to right away. Again the talk was around surgeries that will be coming up over the next decades until he reaches adulthood. In the end he will have the best set of teeth around I'd bet!

It was hard to be back in the hospital for that long. I have made it a point to make sure I am in and out when I go by myself. Today where Ash and I were there together and we had Harrison it really brought the past year. It has brought the reality of being back in the hospital with Ben again...and reliving it all over again. The fact we are going into Christmas doesn't help and just brings EVERYTHING back!

Here we go again....Sigh