Half Way There

Can it be?? Is Sloane really 3??? Our family celebrated Sloane's 3rd birthday this past weekend with a Fresh Beat Band party complete with a concert preformed by my little rockstar. Saturday, July 20th, was her actual birthday so I spent the 48 hours surrounding that day thinking back to life 3 years ago. It has been truly a fantastic journey that has helped all three of us grow as a family. I cant help but reflect on where we have been and how much more relaxed we have become in our Laryngeal Cleft world.

We have been on the go for the past month with nothing more than normal summer activities. My apologies for my disappearing act. I am always bothered by the blogs that just stop with no for warning and I do not want to be one of them. I was surprised to see that over the past month we gained a significant amount of readers from over seas!! Very exciting. I did stop to wonder if a Laryngeal Cleft is becoming less rare based on the searches that followers are doing to end up at A Sip Of Heaven.

I cant believe it is mid-July. Now, most people say...... only 6 weeks until summer is over. I say "we have made it half way thru the summer without any illness" and then there is a big knock on wood!! Our appointment with Dr. Rahbar is September 17th. If Sloane stays healthy until then, surgery is not a definite. It is optional based on our thoughts about her progress and her swallowing experiences over the summer.

Sloane has been having more experiences drinking from an open cup and I have to say she is doing a very good job. It, of course, is supervised as it would be with any 3 year old. She has even started to put straws in bottles and manage the drinking process herself. There have been moments of aspiration. That is clear, but in my heart or hearts I truly believe it is a volume control issue. Sloane takes too big of a gulp and then can not process the swallow efficiently. I am sure this is a laryngeal cleft issue and a normal toddler concern.

My hubby gives Sloane the royal privlege of spitting out her gulp if it is too big. She adores this new rule. Too much if you ask me!! So I have in classic helicopter mom started monitoring the size of the sip to see if it "spit it out" worthy. LOL

I am blogging today from an unlikely spot. Usually its from my couch after the lights have been turned off. Today, though, it's from the surgical waiting room at Mass Eye and Ear. My hubby is having, yet, another surgery later today. We are on the once a year schedule....lol! Now, this procedure is not life threatening, but nevertheless it is surgery and not ideal. When we arrived today, I saw a child with what appeared to be a considerable eye issue and at that moment I thought......Sloane's eyes.....God Bless them! A laryngeal cleft is one thing but eyes are a whole other bag of chips.