Palate surgery

[Busybee88]

Hi wondering if anyone has any experience in this my son is 10 he has speech delay after years of speech therapy they finally think they know what is is they done a X-ray which shows is palate is not moving properly and not big enough so he is going for surgery at end of May does any one have any advice
How long will he be in hospital?

What is the recovery period?

And any other information would be great I am so worried about this when we were told they rushed us out without letting me ask anything
Thanks

Sorry to hear that your son needs surgery. My DD was born with a cleft palate which was repaired age 1, but then age 4ish they found by X-ray that it was too short so she had another operation which was probably like the one your son will have to lengthen the palate. The operation itself was fine, took about 3 hrs and her recovery was really good. I think that we were in hospital 3 days and she was off nursery 2 weeks. She had to eat soft food for the 1st couple of weeks. Nothing complicated like puréed food, just eg well cooked pasta rather than pointy chips. We had to keep on top of the pain with paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly at the start (and sometimes nag nurses in hospital to chase up when meds were due) but I think by the 2nd week she was managing fine with minimal pain relief. The nurses were also keen that we tried to get her to eat probiotic yoghurt at the end of each meal post surgery, and to wash the mouth with water after each time eating. The stitches were self dissolving, so it was just a case of taking a bit of time to heal. That said, the palate can take a while to settle after that kind of surgery. Our DD sounded blocked up like she had the cold at the start (swelling) and then they said that it could take up to 12 mths for the full affects to be heard with speech. The op was 100% successful for my DD and her speech is now good.
If you want more help, ask if you can speak to the specialist cleft lip and palate nurses where your son is having his surgery. They deal with talking through this type of op with parents on a daily basis and in our experience are really supportive. Just thought that you might not have been told about them since your son does not have a cleft. Also CLAPA charity might have info that you helps (and they have a parent support telephone group).
I hope that this reassures you...just let me know if you want to ask me any questions though-happy to try to.