Velo . . . pharyn . . .geal . . .what?

Velopharyngeal insufficiency.  I'd never heard of it either.  But it turns out that is what was causing Tabitha's voice to sound like "The Nanny" (remember that show)?  Her speech teacher last year recommended that we have her checked out, so the ENT sent us to the cleft clinic who diagnosed her with this Velo-thingy, and we finally had the surgery this week.  In normal-people terms VPI means that the part of the soft palate that's supposed to close off when we talk (preventing air from going out your nose) doesn't do that on Tabitha's.  So that's why her voice sounded so nasally.

She had surgery on Tuesday.  I'd put it off for awhile basically because it seemed like such a petty thing to have surgery for.  Since her last surgery totally rebuilt her uri-gyno-colo-nephro-rectal-ogical system, this seemed kind of silly.  It's especially funny how they go over the anesthesia and pre-op questions every time.  The first few times it was reassuring.  Now it's just humorous.  Has she had anesthesia before?  Um, yes, at least 9 times on our watch.  Has she had any surgeries before?  Yes, 8 at last count.  Can we explain how the PCA pump works?  This was explained by at least 3 different people on Tuesday, even though Tabitha probably could've explained it better herself.    Anyway, we made it through all the pre-op stuff.  She did great with not being able to eat.  Her surgery wasn't until 1:30 pm....I would've been no one to mess with after that long without food!  But she was great.

The doctor ended up being able to do a less-invasive version of the surgery than he'd originally planned.  That meant she didn't have to stay a night in the ICU, and her healing was much faster and without risks of causing sleep apnea, etc.  So we were very thankful for that!  Everything went well.  She spent one night at the hospital (my turn to stay with her), and other than some nausea Tuesday evening, everything was easy!  By Wednesday she was feeling fine and eating fine, so we went home.  They gave us a 10-day supply of oxycodone, but by Wednesday afternoon she was feeling fine and hasn't needed it.  She has to eat only soft foods for another 10 days, and that'll be it for this round.

Her voice right now sounds stuffy.  They said there'd be some swelling, so we think it's mainly due to that.  We also think she's going to have to learn how to use her newly-shaped mouth/throat a little differently since she's used to talking through her nose.  The sounds you make in the back of the throat (k, g) are a little weird right now.  But her overall voice quality is much better already.  I feel like, even with the stuffiness, her voice has a more pleasant sound to it.  So I'm really glad we did this.

Next, it's onto her Cincinnati urologist to find out what's next in that department.  She'll be having some bladder and kidney tests on June 21-22, and hopefully we'll have a plan after that.  She's quite a little trooper, that's for sure!

Tabitha is 5!

I'm having a very hard time believing that Tabitha is 5 years old!  Since we adopted her when she was 2 and a half, this also marks the point in time that she's been with us as long as she wasn't with us!  That's really strange to think about that we've only known her for half of her life.  I'm excited though because now I feel like we've reached the real starting point.  Almost like we started 2 and a half years behind, so now we're caught up and it'll just get better from here.  I know that's not logical, and I also know there's no magic number that takes care of orphanage/adoption issues, but in my strange little mind it makes sense!  So, here's to celebrating Tabitha's 5 years of life and her 2.5 years of life with us!

We had a little party for her at Clark's Elioak Farm in Ellicott City.  Despite the fact that it was 90 degrees that day, it was really fun!  The kids got to ride a pony, we went on a tractor ride, pet the animals, walked through a pine-tree maze and enjoyed the bigger-than-life nursery rhyme characters and scenes throughout the park.  It was pretty fun.

Even though I can't believe Tabitha's 5 already, she certainly doesn't have any problem with it.  Since her actual birthday was a couple weeks ago and she turned 5 then, she was convinced that she was turning 6 at her party!  I didn't realize she thought that until I heard her arguing with Jesse about it in the car.  She was adamant that she was turning 6, and got all teary-eyed when we told her she would still be 5.  Nothing like crushing a little girl's dreams.  Oh well, I think she had fun turning 5 (twice), and I'm glad she won't be 6 for quite some time!

Happy Birthday, Tabitha!  We love you!

Orthodontic Success!

Ethan in May 2011 (notice the underbite)

 Ethan with his retainer in October 2011

Ethan is now finished with his retainer!

(squinting from bright sunlight, not from pain)  =)

School is Over!

Saturday was the culmination of our school year.  We went to the Botanic Gardens in DC as our final field trip (since we'd been studying botany this year).

Then we had a little celebration for the kids:  Ethan for completing 2nd grade, Jesse for graduating from kindergarten, Tabitha for finishing her first year of preschool, and Rayanna for not completely preventing it all from happening (though she did try)!  

I'm looking forward to a relaxing summer, and hoping to be refreshed and ready to start another school year when the time comes!  Congratulations, Kids!

Clothing Dilemma

Tabitha is very difficult to find clothes that fit well.  She's SOOOO skinny and has a VERY long torso, so there's always a big gap between her shirt and pants, unless her shirt is double her width in order to be long enough!  We've gotten a lot of her clothes as hand-me-downs, so I don't really bother with the size on the tags, I just try it on her.  So for the past few months she's been wearing this really cute shirt that I LOVE because it actually fits right!  Slim enough for her, but long enough to not show her back when she bends over.

Cute shirt, huh?  Well, one day I noticed that the shirt has what looks like belt loops.  How odd, I thought.  Upon further investigation it turns out that it's a size 2T.  Not a shirt at all, but rather  . . . .

a dress:

And I thought the girls were built so differently they'd never be able to share clothes.  Silly me!  =)

Ethan's Debut

I had my studio piano recital tonight.  I usually have 2 each year.  This one was special for a couple of reasons.  One of my students is graduating this year.  I've taught him since he was 9 years old!  And now he's going off to college and will even be majoring in music.  It's exciting to see all he's accomplished and sad to be letting him go!  The other thing that made this recital special is my newest student . . . Ethan!  This was his very first recital, and he surprised me by actually wanting to participate!  He got a little nervous ahead of time, but stayed calm enough to play well.  I'm very proud of him!

Updates

I have some updates on extended family:

My aunt Lisa, whom I posted about last August, continues to battle cancer.  She's been through numerous treatments and surgeries.  Things look good for awhile, then they look bad, then they look good, then they look bad.  It's been a very hard time . . . for her and also for the whole family.  She's been going through a clinical trial, which has seemed to be having good results.  But now she has to take a break from that to get radiation on some tumors causing intense pain.  She has been such a trooper through all this, and is trusting the Lord.  It's been great to see her responding to this in a way that glorifies God.  But, as wonderful as that is, I think the human side in all of us is desperate for this trial to be over and Lisa restored to health.

Meanwhile, my uncle (also on my dad's) side, just had a severe stroke this week and is in the hospital.  Both Lisa and Jeff are young--nowhere near the age where you expect to hear about health problems like these.  It's really strange because on both sides of my extended family, we've never dealt with big medical issues like this (at least to my recollection).  My mom's the oldest of 4 kids, my dad's the oldest of 10.  Both sets of my grandparents are still alive and healthy, and our extended family has always had good health for the most part.  I guess that's a pretty unusual blessing, but it's kind of made me feel that "all that stuff" happens to OTHER people's families, not mine!  Anyway, Lisa and Jeff are on opposite sides of the country (NC and CA), which I'm sure is putting an added toll on my grandparents and aunts and uncles.  Prayer for all of them is definitely appreciated!

And finally, some good news!  My brother Michael is home!!  He's still a few thousand miles away from me, but having him in Alaska is a much better feeling than having him in Afghanistan!!  We're very thankful for his service to our country, and we're very, very thankful for his safety!  Welcome home, Michael!!