Hi, All,

I heard from Marieka's mother a while ago, and she said that she is very, very pleased with the outcome of M's surgery. She has lost a bit over half of her upper jaw and accompanying palate, from the incisors around to the other side, leaving one or two molars on that side. Those will help tremendously in securing an oburator later. In this type of maxillary/palatal surgery, an opening is left in the palate, and it has to be filled. THey place a flat plate over the opening at first, and replace it with something more intricate later. She was talking already, and they are considering letting her go home tomorrow. I think that the doctor's philosophy is that you can be miserable at the hospital, or you can be miserable at home. I personally feel that nearly everybody is sent home too soon, but each case is different. I hope that they make sure that she can swallow well before they send her home.

She was also expecting the removal of some of the bony tissue supporting her nose, with the placment of a permanent artificial support. Her mother reports that she doesn't know if they did that or not, but that her nose looks perfectly normal to her. Marieka will be happy to hear that!

So....all in all, a good report. and now she is on her way to getting over it. One step at a time, one day at a time.....

XOXO--Colleen

So.....so far so