Special Needs
Cleft Palate Repair Surgery
Hey all!
My DD has a bilateral incomplete cleft palate. We are scheduled for surgery next Monday (3/7) to have it repaired. It's actually pretty narrow, and our surgeon is confident he can have it closed in 1 surgery.
Does anyone have any experience with this procedure? I'm curious as to how much pain your child was in, and how long it took to recover fully.
Thanks!
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Re: Cleft Palate Repair Surgery
My oldest was born with a wide unilateral complete cleft lip & palate. Well, technically a bilateral palate but they only needed to repair the large part since the other part was so close to the gumline that it would come together on it's own (during the repair.. hard to explain, but it really did).
We have only needed the 1 surgery on his palate (at 11 months old). As far as recovery, I have heard every surgeon gives different advice. We were told nothing in or near his mouth for three weeks. We used a wide mouth sippy cup - no spout (unfortunately munchkin does not make these anymore). He took really well to this. No spoons, no solids, & he needed to wear no no's for the three week.
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly my son recovered. He had the surgery on a Friday morning & it was a bit rough during the day & night (but he was not getting the proper pain medicines since they infiltrated his leg.. ugh). But Saturday morning he was ready to walk around the hospital. He went home a little later in the day. We went home with a prescription for Tylenol Codeine which we may have used for just a couple of nights to help him sleep.
Please let me know if you have any other questions.
As far as pain, ditto PP.
We were allowed to use bottle 24 hours after surgery though. He only wore the no-nos for a week because HE didn't want to put anything in his mouth, and could somehow take them off himself, smart cookie. He healed great, and we *shouldn't* need any more surgeries!