Ryan

Ryan's surgery was a success. Nevertheless, he looks quite bad, Kirsten says. He looks the way she did when she had her nose surgery because they did do Ryan's nose. He looks quite puffy and swollen. He will have the tubes in his nose for three weeks. They also repaired his lip. He has to have his arms in splints for a few weeks so that he does not touch his face. But the only time he really cried, she said, was when he was taken away from her to go into surgery. He has been very brave.

She said the thing she was worried about--Ryan not eating after midnight--was not as bad as she had supposed. She said that last night she nursed Ryan until midnight and then, when he woke up during the early morning hours, she just gave him some sips of water from a cup and rocked him back to sleep. Today, now that the surgery is over, he can nurse but cannot have a pacifier. He has nursed a few times today. The doctor told Kirsten and Jared that the surgery was a great success and that all should be well. Keep praying that he recovers quickly. He has been in pain. He has had to have some pain medication. One thing that they will have to watch for a full year is that he does not get sun on his lip and definitely does not get sunburned. It will not scar if they keep him out of the sun.

Last night they stayed at the home the hospital has that is like a Ronald McDonald home. (Good thing because of the snow.) The surgery was done early this morning. Ryan will stay the night at the hospital and will then go home.

Jared's brother, sister-in-law and their little girl live in the next town. They also have good friends whom they trust. The girls are being well cared for and Kirsten does have a support group. That is why we did not go to help, though we had thought we might. Kirsten discouraged it.

Kirsten says to thank you all for your prayers. She said they had been a big help for Ryan and were the reason he was doing so well.

Surgery takes two to three hours and often requires the infant to remain in the hospital one night. If needed, a revision of the lip repair will occur before the child begins school. One child in 700 is born with a cleft. It is the fourth most common birth defect, and the first most common facial birth defect.

Traditionally, the cleft lip is done when the child is 10 weeks old, weighs 10 pounds, and has a 10-gram hemoglobin. Like most clichés, this does not hold true for everyone. There are always exceptions. Waiting until each of these parameters is met assures that the infant's immune system and blood levels are strong enough to tolerate the surgery. Anemia is reason enough to not do this elective procedure. The lip repair is done when the child is in general good health. Three to six months of age is an excellent time to perform this surgery. Occasionally, in very wide clefts, the lip will be repaired in two stages. If the repair is done in two stages, the first is a temporary closure called an "adhesion".

If you have more questions about clefts go to: http://www.widesmiles.org/ and click on the topics to the side. I did the surgery topic and found out a lot. We love each one of you. I know what a blessed person I am to have you in my life. Thank you for being my friends as well as my family