Red Shoes' Pharyngeal Flap Surgery

Red Shoes is scheduled for Pharyngeal Flap surgery on August 11th.  This is due to his difficulty with speech.  It should seal off the air that he is losing through his nose when he speaks. About a year ago when he would try to blow bubbles he could do it with the air from his nose, not his mouth.  Since then he's gotten a lot stronger and can blow bubbles with his mouth. 

 He has what is known as Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI).    Causes of VPI can be anything from a Cleft Palate, Aednoidectomy,  neuromuscular abnormalities and sometimes there's no known reason for VPI.  I'm not sure we really know the reason.  Things are just a little different on Red Shoes.  I think some of it goes back to him having Choanal Atresia.

Here's some pictures of what it would like before & after surgery:

I read that sometimes you can see the stitches along the roof of the mouth.  Here's a photo of a child who had the procedure done, and what you can see. 

The ENT doctor who will be doing Red Shoes' surgery will be taking muscle from the back of his throat and attaching it to his soft palate. The surgery usually takes 1 1/2 - 3 hours. The doctor said that he will probably stay in the hospital 1-2 nights, but it just depends on when he can drink easily. They said his recovery will probably be about     1 1/2 weeks.  Two weeks and he will probably be resuming speech therapy.  Of course, sometime within this span of time we will be having our baby.  Should be an interesting and exciting month! Pin It