What an Interesting Day

How many appointments can we fit on one day? Yesterday it turned out to be four!

Our morning began with a viewing of Huey's primary school and it looks good. He won't be going there for another year but it was great to hear that their teaching ethos closely follows mine. The school is pretty big, which worried me, but they do have a good reputation and the talk the assistant principal gave impressed me. It was a bit of a pity that we had to leave after an hour as we didn't actually get to see around the school but the afternoon was filled with Sascha!

So after the talk we dashed home to give Sashi a sleep and grab some lunch. I then ran Huon over to Ba's (translation- Grandma's) so we could concentrate on the girl.

Sascha had three appointments, all to do with her impending palate surgery.

The first appointment was with a Craniofacial Fellow. He quickly went through Sascha's surgery and what to expect post surgery. Sascha will be in hospital for four to five days. For the first couple of days she will have an IV in so they can easily administer morphine, when needed, and liquids, while she's not feeding properly. I didn't previously realise but she will have arm splints on not just in hospital but for a week after she comes home too. It's to stop her from damaging the surgery but I have the feeling she's not going to like it much. There is also a risk that the surgery won't quite work and that she will still have a small hole which would need to be fixed at some later date. When we saw Prof David David he said cleft looked quite easy to fix so, hopefully, we won't need to be back in surgery. That said there is also a risk that fixing the palate will stunt the growth of her upper jaw and she may need to have it broken and reset in her teens. Not a pleasant idea but one we'll face when the time comes.

Sascha's second appointment was to have photos taken for the surgery. It turned out to be incredibly easy with our little poser. Our only problem was finding the right room in the rabbit warren that is the Samuel Way building of the WCH.

We then had to run to Sascha's third appointment in Kent Town with the Craniofacial's ENT. After rushing to get there we were quite early and sat around in their nice waiting area. I even managed to read an article. The ENT was great. Craig failed the test of holding Sascha still during the examination so I got to lie on the dentist like chair and hold Sascha on my chest. In the end Sascha had cleared her own ears of the fluid that was sitting in them so no grommets are necessary. It's nice to find that we have avoided an unnecessary procedure, even if it's a minor one.

After her big day Sascha was tired and grumpy but, of course, she only fell asleep five minutes out from Craig's parents place. Huey woke her up when he came running out to greet us. We then spent a pleasant evening there. It's always nice to have dinner cooked for you.

After yesterday I am really ready for Sascha to have her surgery. I keep putting off jobs that need doing because so much of my brain space is taken up with it. I also just want to get it over and done with. I am worried about putting our happy healthy daughter through at least two weeks of strife even though I know it'll be better for her in the end. I was watching her laughing in the bath this morning thinking about bathing her in two weeks time. How long will it be before she's just sitting by herself in the bath playing again? I just don't know.

People quite often tell me that they don't know how we do it or that what we've been through is more than they could imagine. It's nice to hear as it gives me validation for the days when I'm feeling like it is all too much but don't sell yourselves short guys. All parents go through things they never thought they would have to cope with. From immunisations to our kids first broken heart we feel their pain and we get frustrated with the world for not seeing their frailties and beauty. As with everything kids go through all we can do is be there when they're hurt and offer support when they're willing to take it. Kids will always give parents a rough time. I guess that for the next four weeks it'll just be a bit concentrated for us.