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Welcome to my family blog. I have been married to Mike for over half of my life. I love my Savior, Jesus. I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to six terrific, interesting children. My 3 oldest were born to me in my younger years, while my 3 youngest were given to me by God in my older years. I am very blessed. ~Cheri

3.29.2010

Doctor Visits

Last week, Ivy had her first Cleft Clinic doctor appointments. She saw an ENT, a speech therapist, educational specialist, oral surgeon, dentist, and a plastic surgeon for her cleft. The speech and educational specialists could not do too much for us at this point. Ivy, of course, needs to go to the dentist to clean those teeth that have never seen a dentist before. The plastic surgeon shared with us all he would be doing to make Ivy's lip look much better. But, that will be when she is around 9 years old. The big thing was the oral surgeon. He is the one that will fix her gumline..the missing bone area in her mouth. Her palate is not affected, which I'm thankful for.

In about a year, Ivy will have surgery on her upper gum area. Dr. P. said he will take some bone from her hip and fill in where she is missing bone in her mouth. Today, Dr. P took that very crooked, loose front tooth out. It caused so much aggravation every time we brushed her teeth. The adult tooth is coming in, but twisted. Her bottom adult teeth are coming in behind her baby teeth. Her mouth is a mess, but it could be worse.

Picture taken with my phone.  Not too clear, but you can see the tears.

Ivy was not very happy about it all.  She seemed okay on the way to the doctor.  But, once in the chair, she started the silent crying.  We initially thought 2 teeth were being pulled, but it ended up being just the one.  She had some gas, and they numbed her gum with a gel, but nothing else.   The tooth was already loose, and Dr. P. quickly pulled it out.  Afterward, Ivy was extremely upset and crying a bit more loudly.  By the time we left, she was fine.  She has to get used to this.  She'll have more teeth removed down the road.  She'll even have to have a fake tooth put in at some point because she is missing one.  It seems like a lot, but it is all spread out over years.  The next step is to visit the ortho in May and see what she recommends.

This looks more line one of Millie's teeth!

The funny thing about it all...Ivy's Chinese medicals did not state that she had this issue.  We knew her lip was affected, but it never mentioned anything else.  So, I thought it was a very minor cleft.  I was wrong.  But, when I traveled to China, I knew that there was a good possibility that this was left out of her medicals.  I'm glad we are able to take care of her and give her the medical attention she needs.

9 kind words:

Kristi

My bio son had an extra tooth in his gum area that they pulled before it came in - not sure it ever would have. It looked alot like the one Ivy had pulled today. Prayers for Ivy!

Gretchen

Ivy is so brave and beautiful! Hoping she is not in a lot of pain after the visit to the dentist.

Cheri

Oh how sweet is Ivy! How sad she looks in that photo. Praying that she is feeling well.

Shirlee McCoy

Poor little thing. I'd have seen those tears and cried, too.

Just curious...aren't tooth issues fairly common with cleft palate? Or is it related to where the cleft is?

I have a niece with a deformity in her jaw bone. There is so much dental stuff that goes along with that.

Learning Together at Home

Hi Cheri,

Ivy's tears are so sad.

We are in the midst of all you describe with our ds 5 (adopted at 3 with a repaired lip and palate, but a fistula in the gumline). He will be going in to have his gumline repaired in a few months. We've already had 4 teeth pulled. Poor little people. Poor Mamas who get to see their babies hearts so scared. :( Not sun, but you are right, it's so good to know our kids have a family to walk them through it.

Unknown

Ivy's tears just break my heart. So thankful that she has you as her mama to be there for her. Poor girl. :( I hope she's feeling better.

Nightingale

Poor Ivy...she's such a sweet thing. I hope she's feeling better now!

We have our first appointment next week with a cleft surgeon to evaluate what needs to be done with Isaac. His palate is wide open, so soon. Because of the medical exam and 8 shots, Isaac does terrible at doctor's offices, so this should be interesting.

Faith

I just wanted to let you know that my son is going through the palate expansion process at the moment in preperation for his bone graft surgery. He had a tooth pulled the day after Ivy's. I feel like I am right there with you. If you have time you can check out our blog at 5precious blessing@blogspot. com

Mommy

Some day we'll be traveling this road as well. Exact same road--Molly has the exact same medical need and will need the same procedures at some point. I'm so glad Ivy seems to be settling in now. XOXO--Misty

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