Surgery Redo!

While the cast removal was great news, the bad news that came along with this step in the process is that the closure of his palate and the muscles which we thought were fully repaired by the surgery, have since popped open. The surgeon confirmed at his post-op recheck on Monday that we will have to redo much of the surgery. We were told prior to the surgery (as part of that pesky informed consent) that there is a 12 percent risk of this happening, but it is so disappointing to have to put him through the pain yet again.

The surgeon said we'll have to wait 3-6 months to redo it and that it gets tougher the second time due to the scarring from the first surgery -- his exact words were, "piffle" (I think it's a polite cuss word) when he looked in Ahn-Bao's mouth.

We are in the process of scheduling Ahn-Bao's first assessment with the school district for speech sometime in the next month. We were thinking this would be about the right time after healing from his surgery. Now that we have to redo the surgical correction, I guess the assessment will have to be done again after he has surgery again.

Ahn-Bao tries to talk all the time. He says a lot of things but almost nothing is understandable to anyone but the immediate family. We only really have the m and n consonants and they sound the same and sometimes a variation on "L". He seems to really watch us when we talk and I can see he is trying to copy what we do with our mouths. We have some signs and some words that we can get pretty good at from context (and sometimes from the number of syllables, e.g., "helicopter" and "motorcycle" but "mail truck" and "school bus" sound the same so we have to look around!) so that his wants and needs are usually able to be made known. But it is just so frustrating to him (and maybe more so to us) when he can't communicate more complicated thoughts and feelings -- especially when I see him trying but I can't make it out.

Does he still have arms under those casts?

Ahn-Bao very quickly learned to maneuver just about anything he needed to with the double arm casts (in case it wasn't clear, the casts were to keep his hands out of his mouth post-surgery) -- a clinical solution that seems only slightly more humane than one of those lampshades that go on a dog's head. If he had a big enough sippy cup, he could hold the very bottom and could get it to his mouth with great efficiency. He could also itch his nose or wipe tears away by rubbing the cast against his face. It all seemed very cruel, and produced quite a number of looks from strangers ("what did they do to that poor child, break both his arms?").

The downsides were more parental than child-related: no water play and washing requires a whole plastic-bag-rubberband-apparatus. The needing to be fed by Mom or Dad was probably a positive for bonding and certainly created much less mess than a two-year old with a spoon and mostly liquid food.

Three weeks post-surgery, on July 14, Ahn-Bao had his post-surgical check-up with the surgeon and the designated day to remove the casts. The saw used to cut off the casts was pretty scary (for both Ahn-Bao and his mother holding him) but didn't hurt him. When they were off, he seemed very surprised and happy to see that his elbows were still there and they worked! Kia offered spontaneously that she was surprised and happy that his arms were still there when the casts came off. Yasmin and Elias were glad to get to see the casts that we brought home as souvenirs, although Yasmin's first comment was that they were kind of stinky!

Meeting an old friend in a new country . . .

Ahn-Bao and his family had the tremendous opportunity to meet up in person with one of Ahn-Bao's "cribmates" from the orphanage in China, his "old" friend, Lu. Lu is a little younger than Ahn-Bao (by about 4 months) and as we understand, was literally in the crib next to Ahn-Bao for most of his time on the 4th Floor of the orphanage.

Lu was adopted by the Chaput's, Mel and Pete and big sister, Clara and came home in early June. Lu and his family live in Minneapolis and Sherry met his mom on a Yahoo group of adoptive parents, friends and family of children adopted from Xi'an. What a small world it really is! You can learn more about Jameson Lian Lu Chaput, affectionately known in China and now in his new home with his own forever family as Lulu, at his blog at http://luchaput.blogspot.com/.

On July 13, the Hubert family traveled to the Twin Cities for a 6-month post-placement visit with their social worker, Cindy Foster at Children's Home Society and Family Services. The Chaput's were so kind to host all of the Hubert's for a kind of playdate and great lunch just before the appointment.

It was so joyous to see these two boys really seem to recognize each other! There wasn't nearly enough time for the Mom's to compare notes and seek out advice but I am sure there will be more visits to keep these two boys acquainted as they grow up!