WHAT'S UP, DOC? (UPDATED)

Priya has been meeting all her new doctors here in Charlotte.  So far, we like all of them a lot!  She has met her new pediatrician, geneticist, oncologist, and ear/nose/throat doctor, and plastic surgeon.  We have yet to set up appointments with GI or orthopedics.

This is what the ENT said:

Large tongue.  Large cleft.
Probably cleft repair in two stages, soft first and then hard.  Once cleft is repaired, there won't be much room in her mouth due to her tongue.  Large, unreduced tongue may cause problems with healing of repaired palate.  Needs tongue reduction, front and back (two procedures).  Keep the g-tube in; it's great she has it. Let's do a hearing test and sleep study in near future.  Come back in six weeks.


This is what the surgeon said:
Large tongue.  Large cleft.
Let's try to avoid the tongue reduction.  Tongues usually do not affect palate repair.  Only one palate repair surgery, both soft and hard, no earlier than 9-12 months.  Too early to give a timeline.  Most of the kids I do these surgeries on don't have g-tubes, so do what you want with it.  Come back in six weeks.

Hmmm... I hope they compare notes before our next visits.

WE HAVE ARRIVED

We have arrived...from medical school in CA, to residency in TN, to Mike's first day of computer training (today) for his position as an attending physician in NC.  We love Charlotte and anticipate wanting to stay here a while.  We've already done some great exploring of the area and have met some really great people. People are SO NICE here.  The city is beautiful.  There is LOTS to do.  Our house and neighborhood are great.  We are settling in really well.  One of my fellow BWS moms (on my FB support group) just moved from Charlotte to Nashville, so we pretty much flip-flopped.  We've been sharing all our favorite places for the other one to check out.  Her husband is in the military and will be deployed soon, so she will be coming back to NC to stay with family during those months.  We plan to get together for play dates.  

Our send-off from Nashville was the best!  We left on July 5th.  On July 4th, our friends Kristin and Al opened up their home to friends from 10:00 a.m. on to celebrate the holiday and as a last hoo-rah.  We had a great brunch, mini-lunch, and dinner.  The house was full all day, and it was the very BEST way to spend our last day in the city we loved for four years...with friends!

I also had a good-bye lunch with some coworkers before I left, but it got so hectic getting ready to leave that I didn't get to stop by and say good-bye to everyone else.  I was really sad about that, but hopefully I will be able to visit more people when we go back in October.

We have arrived...through Priya's first ear infection when we got to NC.  She is doing much better now.

We have arrived...to a full night's sleep for one and all--except the cat (just in time for Mike to start work...August 1st is his official first day).

Mike's dad helped us drive one of our cars during the move, so Priya got to spend some time with her Aaja. This weekend, her Uncle Lee is in town.  Next weekend, we drive to FL for her Aaja's ordination and her baby dedication, and Priya will get to meet her Uncle Joey for the first time, as well as her adopted Auntie Mengkha.  The following week, we are hoping to get a visit from our dear Nashville friends, the Llamas's, and then maybe a visit from my dear friend Mengkha in the near future as well!

Priya is almost FIVE MONTHS OLD!  Her last visit to the doctor was July 8th (first one with new pediatrician), and she weighed 13 lb 8 oz.  Next week is full of appointments as we establish care with doctors here (ENT, plastic surgeon, oncologist).  We have yet to establish care with a GI specialist, orthopedist, or speech therapist yet...soon.  She is doing great with feeds!  You would never know she has a cleft palate.  She smiles all the time and has started laughing.  She is cooing and getting better hand/eye coordination.  She likes flipping pages in her books.  It seems that changes so much from week to week.  I also think she MIGHT be starting to teeth, but we'll see how that all pans out.  She drools a lot, sucks on her hands, and has some days here and there where she is just plain fussy.  It's hard for me to see or feel her lower gum, because her tongue is so large and she just won't let me get in there.  Also, it kind of makes her gag, and HER feeling panicked makes ME feel panicked as well.  So...

We have arrived at new location, meeting new people, baby has an ear infection, lots to update, no internet access at home until late next week...difficult to do on phone.  Stay tuned!