Greg and I were getting very anxious last night as you can imagine. Joy went into surgery at 1:00pm and the Dr. finished about 6:00. It must have been about 7:00 by the time the Dr. came to us while Joy was still in recovery. He told us that Joy did well and that she is a strong girl. He said the muscles in her palate did not want to move, but he finally got them to move and going in the right direction. He didn't use anything foreign in the surgery to bridge the gap. He unattached the muscles which attached to the closest thing they could find, the bone, to reposition and rearrange her palate. He was concerned for her due to the very long surgery, that she may have breathing trouble with swelling and he wanted her in the Special Care Unit where there is one nurse to three patient ratio. Her oxygen was a little low after surgery, so they were giving her oxygen through a mask. He took us to recovery to see her. I had talked to others who have recently walked this same road and been warned about what we might behold when reunited with her right after surgery, but nothing could prepare me for the sight of her. When we walked in to recovery a nurse was holding her, giving her oxygen through a mask over her nose. Joy was crying a lot. She was pale and her mouth all bloody, with a string coming out her mouth, with so many wires attaching her to a machine. The nurse let me hold her. She sreamed, cryed, pulled, pushed, kicked, shoved. She has to wear the arm bands for two weeks so she will keep her hands out of her mouth while the incision heals. After about an hour more in recovery, we went with her to the Special Care Unit, which is much like ICU, all open so the nurses can see their patients at all times. The visiting hours are more liberal though. Greg and I could stay with her until 10:30. Visitation closed between 10:30 and 12:30 for the nurses shift change. Greg and I decided to go get dinner and spend the night at a nearby hotel, knowing how much she is going to need us in the next couple of days and weeks. There is no where to sleep in the SCU. Visitation closed between 6:30 and 8:30. We will get to see her again and stay with her most of the day. Hopefully she will be doing well enough that tonight we will be in a room so that Greg and I can stay with her all night. We will keep you all posted as much as possible. Thank you so much for prayers! They are needed so much!
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