Emily's Surgery Update

The surgery is done!!! At 7:00am on January 7, we gave Emily the controversial Versed Syrup. After giving it to her and driving approximately 2 miles I noticed it had hit Emily. She was very quiet and was drooling. She was answering questions very very slowly-but was not "out". At one point she had her hand in front of her hand and was studying it as if she had never seen it before or could not figure out what it was. Once at the surgeon's office she wanted to walk but she just could not figure out how to put one foot in front of the other and would fall into our arms. After trying several times to walk unsuccessfully, she laid on the floor with a smile on her face saying "I uv ew daddy", "I uv ew, mommy". At around 8:10am, we handed Emily to the nurse for her surgery.

At around 8:30am, we were told the surgery was done and Emily was in the recovery waking up. She looked so little on the recovery bed with a wool blanket covering her. They ended up giving her an injection to "put her out", but it really did not take her long to wake up. Once she was awake, we took her to get a scoop of vanilla ice cream. She got to eat ice cream and popsicles throughout the day. She refused to stick her tongue out or move it from side to side for the first couple days, despite the surgeon telling us she HAS to do it so the scar tissue does not "close" it back up. Really, how do you make a toddler stick out her tongue when she has never been able to do so?!?! It is getting better now. She still doesn't stick her tongue out or lick her lips, although she is trying to. It is like she has not figured out which muscles it takes to do this.

I have seen a difference in the way she eats though. She is really opening her mouth for her bites of food and is actually starting to chew her food and move the food slightly in her mouth with her tongue in order to chew it up. Since the surgery, she has not had to have us "clean out" the excess food in her mouth. I seem to hear more "T"s and "L"s in her speech. She is still drooling ALOT. There is still "burned" tissue in her mouth as the new tissue grows to replace it. Her follow-up is set in 1 month.