Cullen will go into surgery tomorrow around 1:30 pm. It is a 30 minute procedure to insert the Latham device into his mouth. If all goes well he should be in recovery around 2. We are hoping to be leaving the hospital by 5, just in time to enjoy Houston rush hour traffic!
---Now for some Shay ----
Let's see -- where to begin.....the McGarr family has a new bundle of joy in Cullen...yeah, yeah, you probably figured it would start with something like that! Honestly, Cullen is the real deal....he has brought so much joy in his short 14 weeks here that I can not imagine what tomorrow will bring. We will begin a journey that one can ask others about but never really understand until you are in the journey and learning the challenges and obstacles ahead...
We have only begun the "process" to get the little dude fixed and it seems like we have been at it since we were told back in Sept during the ultrasound. Many people were dealing with Hurricane Ike and we were worried about power outages and generators. Rebecca had an ultrasound scheduled in the Woodlands the week of Hurricane Ike's great electric bill cost cutting measures...when 1.5M people were without power...we were trucking it up to the Woodlands for an ultrasound....Brady was not in daycare so the whole family went to Texas Children's. Dr. Stacey Strehlow, Class of '96 Rice University, just happened to be our Maternal Fetal and she broke the news of Cullen's Cleft lip and Palate to us. Brady was right there in the mix and as only a 2 yr old can do -- he said " whatcha doing Mommy!" Whenever the news and information one gets is tough -- the best medicine is the words of a toddler!!!
We have prepared for this surgery since that day and so tomorrow will be the start...I look forward to getting the challenges and obstacles underway and overcoming many of them tomorrow with a strong, healthy and smiling little boy.
Today's pre-op went well with Cullen meeting a little boy named Cameron who was 6 yrs old and had the Latham device for his Cleft Palate and Lip correction. The mother overheard me telling another mother at the clinic about the Latham and politely walked up and said, "Would you like to see the results?"
I said, " Of course."
To which she replied, "I would like you to meet my son, Cameron." Cameron proceeded to sit down next to me on the chair and sheepishly give me "knuckles" -- a trick that Lance taught Brady and has become a standard greeting in the McGarr household -- headbutts not withstanding. Cameron had the Latham and was very much not interested in his mother trying to explain that he used to look like Cullen -- Cullen was, however, very interested in him.
The gesture was incredibly nice and the family wished us well as they left the office. Cameron's mom told me he hadn't had a surgery in 3 yrs. Cameron was your typical 6 yr old with a very nice smile and he only gave me one before returning to his playstation video handheld. Apparently sittting in hospital waiting rooms does wonders for video game playing skills.
We also got a real taste of the workings of Texas Children's Hospital - which we have only heard great things about -- but it is quite impressive. One of the fine print documents hung to the wall in Dr. Stal's office (read: not much else to read in his exam rooms and Cullen was sleeping on mom and the other sign says - no cell phone please.) said that the TCH systems had been updated on June 1, 2008 to better "communicate" with the patient.
The system enabled us to register at TCH and now the ENT, Orthodontics, our Peds doctor at cypresswood TCH pediatric, and the Surgery admissions all have the same information. While this might seem trivial, I was very happy to have only had to fill out one set of paperwork, show the insurance cards once, and everybody seems to be on the same page. We met with Dr. Stal and the plastics team and the Surgery Admit team - a couple of nurses and everyone was very nice and the experience was very pleasant.
And in my good friend Brian Hoblit's best signature ---ttfn (tah tah for now!)!
So do you want a late dinner or wait until Wed.? I was thinking it was a very early surgery time & you'd be home. Let me know. Either's fine with me. You'll all be in our prayers tomorrow!
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