happy 29th (again)

so on wednesday we had our initial surgery consult with dr. coehn of the children's hospital cleft clinic. it was fairly routine, pictures were taken, inspections were made, and information was given. apparently we had accumulated a certain amount of mythology surrounding his surgery, much of which was dispelled during our visit. here are a few of the finer points:

*the surgery will take about an hour and a half, and require at least one if not two nights in the hospital. at first the thought of a hospital stay was a bit alarming, until he explained that you don't want to be at home that night worrying about whether or not he is in pain, unable to do anything if for any reason the stitches were to come out. quite true, we will gratefully accept the help.

*apparently plastic surgery is a lot like golf. how's that for a stereotype? while hole in one's are not common, he is entirely pleased with about 85% of the lip repairs he does and they do not require any other alterations. if he is entirely pleased, we are going to be ecstatic, b/c he is a perfectionist, which is a great quality in somebody who is going to be putting a scalpel to your child's face. the nose will probably be redone at about age 4, and the ear about age 5 to 6.

*as far as his gum goes, this week they just did the first operation where instead of doing a bone graft from the patient's hip, they put a sponge with soaked in some sort of medical goo that facilitates bone growth into the gum instead. it all sounds very potter-ish to me. in 8 years, we are hoping that this sort of thing is very routine b/c apparently the bone graft is the worst part of that whole procedure.

*apparently if isaac were to grow a mustache, we wouldn't even be able to see his scar at all. yeah...but then he would have a mustache. even the fact that both his grandmothers loved (and still love) magnum p.i. doesn't make it ok. they deserve to come back in style just about as much as tight white jeans for men.

scheduling the surgery has been a bit frustrating. we are hoping to have it done as soon as possible, but there are no openings till the 27th of november. ideally there will be a cancellation and we will be able to get him in sooner. until then, we will have to be health nazis, keeping him well since he cannot have his surgery if he is sick. we would appreciate your prayers for health and patience in the time in between.