Big day tomorrow!

Zadie has a big day tomorrow.  She's having surgery to repair her cleft palate and get tubes put in her ears.  I'm very anxious about it, but I'm very excited to be heading in the right direction.  This is kind of the first step in Zadie getting past her issues.  Once the palate is repaired, we can focus on decannulation (getting rid of the trach)!  Her ENT said he would start checking her airway when she's about 18 months, so that's the next thing to look towards.  The last 11 months have flown by, so we can do another several months.

We have to be at the hospital at 6 am and her surgery is scheduled for 7:30 am.  It will take about 3 hours.
She won't be able to put anything in her mouth for TWO weeks after surgery.  How rough is that?  She puts just about everything in her mouth now, and her favorite thing to chew on is the stopper on her feeding tube extension.  She chews on that throughout her feedings.  We had to buy these arm immobilizers (aka "no-nos") that she will supposedly have to wear for the two weeks to keep her hands and anything else out of her mouth.  My friends who have been through the palate surgery with their kids say that it wasn't necessary to wear them that long, so we'll see.

Jonathan's having a sleepover at his cousins' house tonight, so he just knows that it's fun time!  He loves his Syme cousins!  Zadie is only staying overnight in the hospital, so we should be home Wednesday.

Please wish her luck and keep her in your thoughts and prayers!