Clarity on Things Past and Things to Come

Anna at LCPC, reading a book, waiting for the surgeon to arrive

So today was Anna's eagerly anticipated appointment at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic with the team.  (It is awesome to have two specialists present at the same time!  In a perfect world, we would have all of her specialists together at every appointment, but I know that's unrealistic.)  We listened a lot today.  We didn't even have to ask the surgeon what made Anna's lower jaw so difficult, because he was explaining that to the orthodontist in response to a question.  Evidently, Anna wins the prize for the most times he had to re-position that lower jaw during surgery.  The surgeon still has a rather serious face and tone when he talks about that part of Anna's surgery.  We also found out that even though the surgeon had planned for and prepared for cutting the upper jaw (maybe palate is a better term for that) into two pieces before re-positioning, he didn't need to do that.

Both the orthodontist and the surgeon are very pleased with the results of the surgery so far.  The orthodontist and his assistant both commented on how good Anna looked today. When the surgeon arrived, the orthodontist told him, "Looks like you hit a 'home run' with this one!"

The biggest question of the day:  Would the bands come off today?  After much discussion, the answer is 'no.'  While she is healing well and looking good, Dr. M. (the surgeon) feels like we have way too much invested in this (especially with all of the difficulties and the time he spent in the OR with her) to take a chance in taking the bands off.  It's been just three weeks since the surgery.  So we made an appointment for September 10th.  That's the day.  Anna can do this!  While she was a bit disappointed, she has rallied with a great attitude and plans to come up with interesting and nutritious food in liquid form to consume until September 10th.  The orthodontist reassured her that by October, she should feel almost normal, be able to eat almost anything, and have a good range of motion (get back to playing the bassoon), etc.  October isn't that far away.  We can do this!