4 years old and growing

 Our Noah celebrated 4 years! He is growing healthy and happy. We could not be more grateful for that.  Two months after his birthday he went for his team appointment. He saw all the Doctors and overall did well. The biggest concern we had was his snoring. Because of this concern we set up a sleep study. Well we learned that his sleep study was horrible. He had he had 37 episodes in an hour when the norm is 1. His ENT suggested we remove his adenoids since we knew they were swollen from previous x-rays. His plastics Dr was already suggesting a second jaw distraction. We opted for the least evasive procedure first. Two weeks later Noah went in for a partial adenoid removal and new ear tubes. The possibility of removing his tonsils was slim to none and at the end his ENT did not even touch them. ENT said his adenoids were just about causing a complete airway blockage. This explained the numerous episodes, levels of oxygen dropping, and horrible sleep patterns he was having. His recovery time was zero to none. He asked for no pain meds after leaving the OR and by that night was munching on French toast. Well just two weeks after his surgery and Noah's snoring has ceased. We are so happy that he has improved in this area so quickly. We hope this helps him gain a little bit of weight since his body was burning so many calories to breath at night.

Other than this, Noah is doing well. He is speaking and passed his speech evaluation from the team. He is doing well in school. He is so witty and can give you a great conversation. And plenty of laughs on a daily basis. We can't thank God enough for his grace and mercy. We know this journey could be so different and we are so humbled. Our Superman has a Super God!

 Noah is 4!Before Surgery

After

 Recovery  ENT

 Plastics

 Team Appointment

The Cleft Team

Shortly following Noah's 3rd Birthday we had our very first appointment with the Cleft Team. Children born with a cleft palate will automatically be followed on a yearly basis with the Cleft Team. The Cleft Team includes the following doctors of which you may see all or some: Craniofacial Surgeon, Speech Pathologist, Pediatrician, Geneticists, Dentist, Audiologist, ENT, Social Worker, Growth Specialist, Ophthalmologist, and Psychologist. In our appointment we saw all but the Psychologist and Ophthalmologist. We had an ENT appointment for a few weeks later.

Our day started at 9am and finished at about 2pm. It tends to be a long day but CHOP does a great job of bouncing you from one specialist to the next according to their availability. So you may not see them in the order of the booklet they give you but based on who is available next so you do not sit and wait for endless hours.

Overall the Team appointment went well. Each specialist had a positive preliminary evaluation regarding Noah's general growth, chin growth, palate growth, hearing, teeth and speech development.