Great News!

We just got the great news that Caleb will go back into the OR tomorrow and will have his lips released! Not sure how much pain there will be with that, but we are all looking forward to him being able to open his mouth! That means hot dogs, pizza, chocolate -- all those great things he has been witnessing on TV and saying "yummy" to! He has continued to be a real trooper throughout this whole process. He has been easy to entertain and has been real patient through this week, but is ready to go home! Once again-- thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and visits! All is appreciated!

In God's Peace~ The Bastians

Another surgery completed!

I am not sure how many people continue to read these posts, since they have become so few and far between! It remains a good journal for me--none-the-less.
Caleb had his facial reconstruction on Friday morning (June 11). The surgery that Dr Hussain performed is called the ABBE flap procedure. Named after Dr Abbe, a doctor from out east, who started it, back in the late 1800's. Basically it involved creating a more prominent (and cute if I can share my opinion) nose! It also created an upper lip, and the piece between the nose and the top lip. He also had permanent t-tubes put into his ears. Needless to say, he did fabulous again. This was a huge procedure, and we are told the biggest surgery he will have. Back-tracking..... the surgery began at about 8:20 on Friday morning and took 3 hours to complete. We were in P-ICU for the first 48 hours and then were moved to a room upstairs on Sunday late afternoon/early evening. While in the ICU, he was pretty heavily sedated, but still did well with it. Today (Tuesday), he was, once again, taken to the OR to have the silk stitches (the ones on his face) removed. He was not real happy about going back into the ER, as it is still pretty fresh in his mind! We are still here until Saturday, as he has to go back into the OR to have his lips released.
I forgot to mention that when he came out of surgery, his lips were sewn shut, he had a tube sewn into one nostril, he was in straight arm-braces, and he had stitches on each side of his nose, under his nose, an IV in his arm, and on his chin- but he continued to be a trooper.

One Year Later

Wow! One year ago today was a day to remember- from excitement and joy to reality! Caleb has come a long way in one year, as have the rest of us! He has grown physically, emotionally, and educationally. He is attending Pre-school through out Special Education Early Childhood program, and between the language rich environment there, the daycare, older siblings, and life -he is understanding so much! He tries to communicate more and more and becomes more and more understandable. He still struggles to communicate all he wants to and, therefore, we have temper tantrums and misunderstandings at times around here. They seem to be getting less, but are still long and a struggle when they do occur. Caleb has had 4 surgeries on one year, with the last being a baby root canal and 6 caps on his back teeth. He has done very well with each and every one of them.
He has become more snuggly and is really a mommy's boy, but branching out more and more to daddy now. He loves to snuggle and hug and feels part of the family.
We plan to celebrate Gotcha day with Chinese food at a local restaurant tonight. God has blessed us, each and everyone!

October 12, 2009

Sorry to all of you who still check the blog regularly and thank you for your continued support. We have made it through surgery #3. Caleb had his 3rd surgery on Spetember 22, 2nd on his palate, and Dr Hussain closed his palate completely! Yea! He also lengthened his palate for future dental work. Caleb was in the hospital for 4 days this time, which seemed like forever. Brett took the first week off and stayed at the hospital with Caleb. My mom and dad, bless them, came down and sat 2-3 hours daily so that Brett could get out during the day. The kids and I headed to the hospital daily after school and I stayed and gave him another break and time with the other 2 kids.
I took week #2, which was easier as I was able to be home and then Caleb began daycare on Tuesday and did wonderfully! Week 2 continued the liquid diet, which was easy as Caleb loved pedia-sure. The bad part was, he developed an allergy to it and broke out in hives on Wednesday! We started zyrtec in the morning and benedryl at night. It took a few days but the hives eventually disappeared - thank goodness!
Week 3 started with an appointment with Dr Hussain, who thought all looked good and we moved onto soft foods. Caleb loved getting rid of the cups at every meal and we were on the downhill! This week (#4) is free for all. He is allowed to eat whatever he chooses.
He also began school last week in our early childhood pre-school program. He is so happy and loves his daycare and his school!
Caleb has been a blessing to our family and lately things have normalized! There have been many emotions along with this adoption, but all have been worth it and not so painful looking back!
It is great to see him with the kids - laughing, fighting, playing. It is like he has always been a part of the family. He is so happy and fun to be around. Even with limited speech, he tries to be funny and is the first to laugh at his silliness! God does not give us more than we handle and in the end there is always the reassurance of the rainbow! He has definitely sent me my rainbow! What a joy and a blessing!

May God bless each and everyone of you!

Surgery #2 Finished!

Caleb's surgery to deal with some urological problems took place yesterday. We had to check in to the Surgery Center at 8:45 for a 10 AM surgery. Once again, he was a real trooper! He woke up and realized the pain down there, but was easily comforted through snuggling and rocking. He received great care at the Sioux Falls Surgical Center and a good friend of ours was our nurse once we got into recovery, so that was really great for all of us! Of course, Brett knows many of the people there from working there, so he is quite comfortable anyway. Once Caleb was able to pee, we were free to have the IV removed and check out. We left the hospital at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Caleb went home, Brett gave him some ibuprofen, and he went sown until about 6:30. He woke up, the anesthetic was worn off and he was himself again already. He seems to feel the pain more than with the palate surgery, but seems to be doing well, as long as the sore area isn't touched or bumped.
He woke up this morning and was ready to go! He still has tenderness, but has no restrictions other than no swimming for 2 weeks! Just time for the warm weather to come!
His next palate surgery will be scheduled in September or October. We will keep everyone updated.

Recovering Well

We had our follow-up appointment with Dr Hussain on Monday and all looks good! We were given the go ahead to start soft foods! What an excited little boy we had when he saw macaroni and cheese and a hot dog in front of him at the table! He still is to wear the arm braces through Friday and then just at night in order to keep his finger out of his mouth. We will do the second surgery in September or October. It will be the same diet then as well, so that will again be the toughest part.
Caleb is scheduled to have his other surgery on Monday, June 22 for an undescended testicle. We will be doing that at the Surgerical Center and it will be same day. The doctor says he will be running around the next day. It is supposed to be easier than the palate surgery, so since he was running the next day with that, I am confident that he will do the same!
Thank you for your continued support!

Released!

Sorry for the break in communication, but here is an update on the tough guy!
Brett slept at the hospital both nights, so that I could sleep comfortably at home. When I arrived at the hospital on Saturday morning, my Caleb was back! He was talking and running and playing and I was trying to keep up with the IV pole! He was still getting morphine for the pain, but the anesthetic was all worn off! He was ready to go home, but had 48 hours of IV antibiotics that needed to be run through him. He had a good day and the best medicine was having his brother and sister come to visit and play with him in the toy room. Sunday was more of the same, and Caleb was taking only tylenol and tylenol with codiene intermittently. We finished the IV antibiotics and waited for the doctor. Just when we were convinced that we had one more night, the doctor called and said that we could go home! We were able to leave at about 4:30 in the afternoon! We were all happy to get home! Now the real fun starts, as Caleb is only to eat from a cup for 2 weeks. Clear liquids for week one, thickened liquids for week 2, and start soft foods for week 3. He did not take in much last night, but we were able to get him to drink some warm Jell-O and a little beef broth. This is real hard for him to understand.
This morning, he didn't want the liquids, but finally took some apple juice and most of the Jell-O from lat night. He didn't want it, as it is congealed now, but finally tried it and decided it was "Mmm".
The part that I thought would be the toughest is that he has to wear straight arm braces for 2 and a half weeks, which means no finger in the mouth, plus not being able to bend his arms most of the day. He has done wonderfully with this and when we take the braces off intermittently, he is ready to put them back on, and seems to know that he has to wear them. Much better than I would do with that restriction!
All in all, things are going great and Caleb is doing wonderfully!
The dog and the kids have been at Grandma and Grandpa's and Caleb has been pointing to their pictures today, ready for them to come home!
Thank you for all of your powerful prayers!