Update

To fill you in, Scott and I took Emma in to see her surgeon on Tuesday.  Previously he had said that the left side just needed more PT and time.  The therapist had communicated with him after our session last Wednesday and he told us to come in on Tuesday (the only day he does appointments).

From our meeting I get the distinct impression he has done fewer of these procedures than I had thought, and certainly did not seem to know how to assess if the muscle had become disconnected. 

I explained what happened in therapy, I explained wht the other surgeon had said to me after the surgery, that if it disconnects, the cheek would drop, and then showed him photos that showed a change in the suspension of the corner of the mouth. 

He seemed to concur, and also thought he could feel the muscle hiding behind the cheekbone.

Thankfully he also felt that sooner was better for addressing it, and put us in for surgery on Monday!  The plan is, I believe, to open the incision on her cheek and see if they can locate the muscle and reattach it there. Since it's a small space (and I don't even want to think about how scarring might be worse), there's a chance they will still have to go back in behind her ear for more accessibility. 

Emma seemed quite perturbed about that - because she hated having the drainage tubes that pull excess fluid from the cheek out a tube into containers at the end of the tubes.  But also because her hair is now growing back in and she doesn't want to go through that again!  The Dr said he would not shave her hair again!

The good thing is we are only talking about one side of her face, and only part of the original procedure to be repeated.  That should hopefully make recovery markedly easier.

We are all very pragmatic about I - there's really no question that we need to try again, since the other side is moving so successfully.  Scott and I have a much better picture of what to expect and how to be prepared both at the hospital and at home.  My company didn't hesitate to let me take next week as a vacation, and I'm sure as I need to, work from home or take more for appointments.  Thankfully I have plenty of days left, if things are similar to last time.

It certainly isn't how we envisioned spending the bulk of the summer, but it's totally worth it and also great that she does not have school.  The expectation is that she would be able to restart therapy before our scheduled holiday at the end of August - and hopefully cleared to have lots of fun in the ocean!!

We'll be making the most of the next few days, getting Emma out and about before she spends a few weeks in recovery.

Please pray for the doctors to have wisdom and skill on Monday!  And for us to have the strength and energy to support Emma.