Jonah's Surgery - Post Surgery

Hey Everyone!!  Jonah made it through his surgery just fine.  

The surgery went quite fast actually!  We were so surprised!

I didn't really know what to expect when we saw Jonah.  They said that they thought he might have to stay intubated for a while and the length of the surgery would depend on how things looked once they got "in there".  I had asked both sets of doctors to explain what the distractors would look like.  I had googled it (of course) but the orthodontic staff said that Jonah's devices would NOT look like the ones that I found online.  But guess what?  They really do!!

For the most part, Jonah is resting comfortably.  He does not seem to be in too much pain and he has been in and out of sleep.  He did have an emotional melt-down when he realized that Baba was getting ready to leave, which only made it more difficult for him to leave.  

Jonah cried really hard ... well, as hard as he could with his distractors and barely opened eyes.  When he cried, he caused himself to cough several times and by the sound of the coughs, his throat must be dry and sore.  That is likely to be expected.

He has since tried a few sips of apple juice and only one bite of applesauce and a few licks of a popsicle.  He's not quite ready to take on eating just yet and seemed slightly nauseaus.

Below is a photo of an x-ray that they took of Jonah once the distractors were in place.  

He has incisions on either of his face and the lower jaw was cut on both sides as well.  The distractors are placed with four very long, very sharp, but very small (diameter) rods.  These rods are essentially what will hold the distractors in place. 

Tomorrow, the distractors will begin the turning process.  Dr. Denny will come to check on Jonah and then he will make the first turn.  Each turn will move the jaw bone 1mm and the turning will take place about once a day for the next three weeks.

Stay tuned for more updates on Jonah!

We are so thankful for this 'uneventful' day and we just pray that Jonah stays comfortable through the night and will be able to eat and drink without getting sick.  Something I posted earlier today on our facebook group was the following ... wanted to also share it here.  

Jonah's surgery went well! He is in Case Finishing and will be taken to the ICU, possibly still intubated as a precautionary measure. It will be a while before we can see him. Dr. Denny is SO GREAT ... just want you all to know! We're here for Jonah and he has asked us about Rees and discussed his case even twice already (his team did too at various points this morning)! In consult a little while ago, after telling us that Jonah's surgery went well, he told us that it's going to be amazing to see the transformation in this kid, as well as Rees. We have these great kids ... We've been so blessed ... with extreme medical (almost mysterious) cases ... Rees' is so complex that his case has been brought to several medical conferences and is being classified as highly unique as their is virtually nothing in the medical literature about his medical condition. That's our Rees-y ... blazing a trail!! Jonah's case is highly complex too because the malformation didn't affect just one component but multiple physical parts and functions in his face and head. For both of them, Dr. Denny said that "none have come before them ... and none will come after." He genuinely cares about each one of our kids, despite the hundreds of patients he has had in his career. It matters to him how they feel, think, and see themselves ... and he works to not only improve their appearance and functionability but also their self-esteem. We don't know if Dr. Denny is a Christian, but God has blessed him with an amazing gift and we pray that God blesses him and reveals Himself in his life if he hasn't already.