Juliana Says Hi!
February 07, 2007 4:45 PM

It's hard to believe that it's only been 3 weeks since Juliana had her surgery. The first few days home were very difficult. Juliana's face was very swollen and painful. When we had to turn the screws (every 8 hours) it would take 2 of us and sometimes 3—she would fight, and she's very strong. It was breaking out hearts to have to cause her such distress. Even with premedicating her with Tylenol #3 elixir, she would fight to keep us from touching her face. It was making all of her care more difficult, such as suctioning, and mouth care, because she was beginning not to trust us. We got into a routine of doing most of the "turning" while she was asleep. Even so, she would often wake up fighting and pushing us away.

But the days passed, the swelling went down, and we got better at it. Most of the time Thom is the one who turned the screws. Toward the end he could get it done without waking her up. Tami and I could usually get the right one turned, but had a difficult time with the left one. Usually though, we'd get it turned by the time she actually woke up.

And now, it's done! They've been turned as far as they go. It's just a matter of leaving them in there while the new bone gets strong. Pictures have been e-mailed to Dr. Wolf. He'll let us know when it's time to bring her back to have the hardware removed.

So, it was an ordeal. But the results are wonderful. Juliana's jaw has come forward enough to allow her tongue to fall back further into her mouth, and she's getting more air movement through her mouth. This is allowing her to be more vocal. She's always laughed, shaking her little shoulders with glee, but now you can hear her laugh! And she is able to say "Hi," She's always made random sounds but didn't have enough movement in her jaw to form words. And she wanted to talk so badly. Now she's so pleased with herself—she's loving it!

—Jeanne ("Party")