Surgery Date

Wow how the time flies!  River is 5 months old today and I really can't believe it!  He is getting so big and strong is really is such a sweet happy boy.  His big blues eyes are always shining and he loves to smile!
    We have been super busy these last couple months.  The girls are out of school, and we have friends visiting from Russia for 2 weeks!  I have put off updating the blog because we were in the process of interviewing more doctors and really had no idea when or what his next step in cleft treatment would be.
      As you know back in March we decided to move River's cleft care up to Shriners.  We saw a doctor up there that seemed great, but had a different approach to fixing clefts than I was expecting.  I decided to trust him and see what he said about surgery when we went back in May for our follow up appointment.  When we saw him in May I was still not satisfied with his method and some of his answers to my questions.  Little did he know that this mama bear had done her research, and yet again I had a feeling that this was not the best doctor for River.  By this point I had begun to feel upset and a little crazy.  Was I expecting too much?  How could the treatment I wanted and had expected for my son be different than what these 2 experienced doctors were telling me.  I put my frustrations out there to some friends and family and ended up getting a referral for Dr. Anna Kuang who happens to work at Doernbecher AND Shriners.  I called Shriners and asked if I could have a second opinion (but really our 3rd opinion at this point) with Dr. Kuang.  They were happy to oblige and made the appointment.  Justin had to work on the day I was taking River up there.  I said to him "I hope the third times the charm!" I also was concerned that if this was the doctor I liked and wanted to go with, he would not be there to see for himself.  He said he trusted my judgement and off River and I went.
           The appointment went great, and this was FINALLY the doctor I had been looking for!!!  She confirmed my thoughts that the treatment the first Shriners doctor had wanted to do was not a good idea for River. She is also the top dog up at OHSU.  She is the head of plastic surgery, director of the Cleft and Cranio facial team, AND a professor.  Cant get much better than that!!  I hope some day River will be proud of me and how hard I worked to get him the best care and doctors possible!
   SOOO the big question many of you have been asking is when is his first surgery?  We have a date of July 12th, less than a month away!  The date will only change if the ENT (ear, nose, throat doctor) is not available to put tubes in his ears.  I'm nervous and excited at the same time!  I'm really going to miss his big wide smiles!

           Hope everyone is enjoying the start of Summer!  I will update when it gets closer to surgery and I have more info.