Hey Guys! Long time no talk!
Im not going to make excuses about why I haven’t posted in a while, like….
Ive been very busy with Mandy’s care even though it has
it sounds so much better than the dog ate my blog post do’n’t you think?
The truth is with so many people and eyeballs on us, it sometimes feels like you are in a fishbowl. 
let me try to describe to you what that feels like.
When Mandy had her first heart surgery, Teresa and I stayed in the hospital with her for about 3 weeks. Because of Mandy’s equipment, We were basically shoved into one tiny corner of her hospital room. The room’s walls were made of glass and there was always someone looking into the room watching Mandy’s vital signs. Doctors, nurses, technicians and other visitors would walk by and look in. After a while you feel like you are an animal in the zoo, <announcer “ And here we havePapa Blaes, Mama Blaes and Baby Blaes living in their natural habitat” or maybe not so natural :) We had no privacy. We had to dress and undress in the bathroom. It was a difficult experience. By the time Teresa and I went home we were basically shell shocked. As a result of that and Many other experiences with Mandy, I find that I value quiet and privacy much more than before. So Ive needed some time to recoup.
Mandy is doing great overall. She’s over 26 pounds now. She acts like a normal 2 year old for the most part. And now for the big development.
Mandy finally had her cleft palate repaired.
It took over 2 years of planning and hoping. There were a lot of issues that had to be overcome.
Mandy had to be in really good health, because this surgery was expected to set up her back some.
The surgery happened early October 21st The surgery took about 2 hours, and went off like Clockwork. Mandy was supposed to stay in the hospital overnight but was held over the weekend.
Here it is a week later and I am happy to report that she doing great! She has to wear arm restraints to keep her fingers and everything else out of her mouth. It’s quite a feat let me tell you. She hates having her arms confined. Tomorrow we are going to the see the plastic surgeon. Hopefully everything has healed correctly. I will let you know how it goes.
Thank You for Your Prayers and understanding I will do my best to try to post about once a month.
Love in Christ
Michael Blaes
P.S. Please let me know that you are out there by adding a comment below.
