Emily's follow up appointment

Emily has another surgery scheduled next Tuesday.

Yep, you read that right. Another one.

And this time, in the surgeon's words, he's throwing the kitchen sink at her.

He will be re-suturing part of the tongue flap to her palate and securing it with bone anchors. He will reattach the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth (yes, she has pulled it almost entirely out because she canNOT be quiet!). He will wire her jaw shut to help minimize the amount her tongue can move.

And the possibility of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for additional assistance in healing is being considered. We met with a wound care doctor today (all seven of us--the kids were the hit of the [adult] waiting room and even got graham crackers out of one of the nurses!) and looked at the hyperbaric chambers to see if Emily thought she would be able to handle being in it. She's game, but we're working out the logistics between insurance and having a pediatric patient treated at an adult wound care center. All of the hospitals are connected (literally; the kids loved walking all of the bridges over the roads) but there are still a bunch of details to be worked out and we should know more on that end tomorrow or Friday.

I keep thinking we're on the last surgery, but her mouth just won't heal. And she's not very good at that "Emily, don't talk" command she keeps hearing. Repeatedly. Like every two minutes. Sigh.

So here we go again.