Family Love

Dom turns "FOUR"

Its hard to imagine that these "big boy" feet were once our "baby" boy's. It is crazy how time flies and with a blink of an eye...they are 4 and getting ready for Kinder. It has been quite the journey so far...no doubt some ups and downs...but these strong feet have traveled a looooong road for being so little! We love you Dom and mom and daddy will be here to walk a million more miles with you! Happy 4th Bday!

Tubes are out!!!!

5 weeks after surgery!!! Beautiful! I cannot express the appreciation and gratitude our family has for Dr Hurst. Because of this surgery and to his speech therapist, Patty, ....his speech has improved tremendously and is not as muffled and it is easier to keep his nose clean. He loves to say... "Look at my nose, the tubes fell out!" His C's and J's are much better! YAY! He is on his way! Now to get ready for his next journey!!! Kindergarten will be here soon enough!

1 1/2 weeks post-op

He is coming along! He still has the tubes in his nose for another 3 weeks or so (til they fall out) and WILL NOT let us clean up his nose yet! If we are lucky we are able to do when he is sleeping or right after the bath. When he sleeps, he has a hard time breathing and we can hear clear across the hall! Dr. Hurst!!! You are amazing!!!

4th Surgery - 3rd Lip Reconstruction and 2nd Rhinopasty

This is Dominick's 4th overall surgery- 3rd Lip Reconstruction and 2nd Rhinoplasty.

June 10th, 5:30am
We have been through this before, but for some reason, I feel like this is the first time. My heart jumps and skips a beat. I am anxious and nervous. Dominick is still sleeping. We have been telling him he will be having surgery for the last two days, but, he is 3, and I dont think he knows really what that means. I start cleaning the floors to keep my mind busy from the big day ahead. I keep thinking to myself, 'We have done this before'. The floors are spotless and its only 6am. Cleaning is a therapy for me and I need to keep busy! Off to get coffee, apple juice and orange juice and by the time I return, Omar is waking up. Boys are still sleeping. Dominick has only til 8am to have his fluids. So we wake him up. The biggest smile is on his face! Melt my heart. 'We have done this before'.

9:30am - pre-op check in
We check in and we meet Janice, she is part of the wonderful staff at UMC. I have to say, every experience and UMC has been a great one. From start to finish. So happy our boy is such great hands. Isaiah, Dominick's older brother, is being extra nice to him...he knows he is having surgery and...this is kinda of a big deal because you know how brothers are, fighting about everything. So he was doing his job by keeping the peace. Good job Buddy!

A Special thanks to my dad for hanging with us in the waiting room! You are amazing and we appreciate you watching Zay for us! Love you!

Dominick in the waiting room playing with Isaiah and Daddy

They call our name and off we go! Amy, child specialist, met us with toys and distractions for Dominick, which is always good! Cause he knew where he was and told us "I wanna go home!"

Dominick w Daddy getting ready for surgery

A good "before" picture of his nose and mouth. Just took the goofy juice!

Minutes before they came and took him. A little more goofy!

This time around, he was definitely Daddy's boy. His past surgeries I was the one he wanted. NOT THIS TIME! :(! Thats ok! They took him away around 1040am. My anxiety grew! Yet I was at peace because I knew my little man was in the greatest hands! Dr. Hurst is an amazing doctor! There are no words to describe him and the appreciation we have for him. He has changed Dominick's life now and forever! He told us it would take about 2 hours....

12:40pm....Dominick is still in the OR

1:15pm....still waiting

1:30pm....Dr Hurst comes out to tell us that everything went well!

10 mins later we were called back to recovery to find our baby boy waking up from the anesthesia. This is, by far, the worst part! He is looks amazing, my first thought! Then I went into momma mode. He only wanted daddy so I had to do the momma thing from the side lines. Its the worst feeling when your baby is in soo much pain and they have no idea what happened. He cried "Oweee, Oweee , my nosy and mouthy!" My sweet boy! We just encouraged him and told him he was a strong and brave boy! He did soooo good!

After...in recovery!

Resting

My fav pic! He did not want to let go of the Popsicle! He got soooo mad when it melted! But he would not eat it! We went through 3! Ha!

Priceless! A picture worth a million words! Love you both sooo much!

All in all, it went really well. Dom was up and playing that night. He watched 'Toy Story' for 24 hours straight! I woke up at 3am the next morning to check on him and he was still up watching it! He would sleep for a couple hours here and there. The pain meds he was on...did not let him sleep! We let him be! It was his world...we were just visiting!

Dominick, you are my hero! I love you more than words! You are truly a sign of strength and bravery!

I will post an update with his progress as he heals next week! Thanks for all the love and support from my family and friends! We love you all!

Rhinoplasty (Greek: ῥίς rhis, nose + πλάσσειν plassein, to shape) is a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form, restoring the functions, and aesthetically enhancing the nose, by resolving nasal trauma (blunt, piercing, blast), congenital defect, respiratory impediment, and a failed primary rhinoplasty. In the surgeries — closed rhinoplasty and open rhinoplasty — an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat specialist), a maxillofacial surgeon (jaw, face, and neck specialist), or a plastic surgeon, creates a functional, aesthetic, and facially proportionate nose by separating the nasal skin and the soft tissues from the osseo-cartilaginous nasal framework, correcting them as required for form and function, suturing the incisions, and applying a stent to immobilize the corrected (new) nose to ensure the proper healing of the surgical cuts.^[1]

Surgery Scheduled for June 10th

This is Dominick's 4th surgery.
Dr. Hurst will be taking some of Dominick's upper lip scar tissue, from his previous surgeries, and adding more to the bridge of his nose, making it not look so flat.
Side note, wanted to share a few thoughts....
I know that every situation is different and no one go through these type of things the same way. Reason why I say this is because, I know, for me, as Dominick's momma, I see it first hand and deal with it on a daily basis. We have him in speech therapy, he has trouble with his f's, t's, s's and c's, but he is getting better and better everyday. I know how I feel, I can just imagine how my little dude feels. Many say he doesn't know any different, but I say he does. I know I get impatient so I know he does too! Honestly, emotionally this has taken a toll on me, some days are better than others. I have grown as a person and as a mother, as we all do! My promise to him from this day forward is to show him more love, patience and kindness. My boys have my heart. I love you more than you will ever know! :)

4th Surgery Coming Up!

Its that TIME Again!
Another lip and nose surgery. This time Dr Hurst will get rid of some scar tissue in Dominick's upper lip and do slight revisions to his nostrils. After this, he should be set for a couple more years.
We are gearing him up for kindergarten! Well...not quite there yet...but better now than after he starts school!
The surgery is not scheduled yet, but we are thinking end of May or first week in June!
Good luck baby boy! You are a trooper and we are sooo happy and proud of you!