Hello Everyone - Warning this is a long post! If you are just interested in his latest surgery skip to paragraph 4 for that update 

For those keeping some tabs on Levi its been awhile since our last post. We have had some of the best 281 days. Levi recovered from his last surgery quite quickly and then proceeded to enjoy all that life had to offer.  He learned he loved food and enjoyed eating at every opportunity. This allowed him to make up quite a bit of ground and grow rather quickly.  Overall Levi is growing and developing as he should. He quickly went from rolling, to crawling, to walking to running. He loves to climb, read books and eat! One area his development is not where it should be is his speech. Because of his cleft he cannot make many of the traditional sounds a 1 year old makes. He can't make any oral sounds - think G's, B, D and so on. To combat this Trevor and I chose to teach Levi American Sing Language. He picked it up rather quickly and signs throughout this day. He signs the traditional baby words like milk, more, and all done.  He signs things like Dad, all his daily activity, and common manners. His sign language also includes many animals and all types of food. Its something we hope to continue as far as Levi is willing to participate.  

His last 281 days have been so enjoyable. He enjoyed his first few vacations camping with everyone from the New Glarus Fire Department to the large Pernot family 4th of July camping trip. He even participated in the tradition of dressing up in the red, white and blue with his Dad and Nana Moni. He enjoyed his first few festival experiences in downtown New Glarus and  celebrated his Swiss heritage. In August, he met all his extended family and attended the Wittmann Family Reunion. Summer has its perks and Levi spent many days with friends and family. He attended cattle sorting and penning shows where he rode horses, he went to the zoo, visited state parks, went to the Green County and Wisconsin State Fair, enjoyed the tranquility and fishing in the North Woods, and love watching the progress of Nana and Papa's house renovation. This fall seemed to be much of the same with Levi exploring every component of life. He enjoyed his first birthday and picked up the game of trick or treating rather quickly. He would take the candy out of the bowl and hand it to mom and dad. Thanksgiving was absolutely a wonderful time spent with family and a blessing to return to normalcy as last year we were in the NICU. 

Shortly after Thanksgiving we started to prepare for his next surgery. We stayed quite close to home all of December with his next surgery schedule in the middle of the month.  However it was deemed best to wait for his surgery and continue to keep Levi as healthy as possible. That brings us to the last week or so. Last week Thursday, February 2nd, 281 days since his previous surgery Levi had what we hope to be his last surgery. 

Levi arrived at American Family Children's Hospital mid morning on Thursday and underwent his next set of surgical procedures. The surgery started with ENT removing his old set of ear tubes and installing a new set to give him the best chance of proper ear drainage. Then the ENT performed a full anatomy observation of Levi's airway and determined that his airway is proper and able to withstand the next components of the surgery. His plastic surgeon then began the process of closing Levi's unilateral cleft pallet. This procedure was long and grueling. Thankfully the surgeon was able to use all of Levis tissue and only had to borrow a bit of cheek fat to fill any voids. This really is one of the best possible outcomes. The surgery is so precise and meticulous that it took the remaining portion of the day. 

At about 6pm on Thursday we met Levi in recovery where we started the healing process. Levi was quickly moved to the PICU for further recovery and Trevor and I were able to hold him. Overall the surgery was very successful. The team of doctors were able to perform a full closure of his pallet that should give him proper speech and oral sound development.  Levi made progress through the night and by morning was breathing on his own with no support on just room air.  His surgical team removed his nasal trumpet and nasal air supply early Friday morning.  During the night Levi had his first few drinks of water through is newly formed oral cavity. At noon on Friday the surgical team evaluated Levi and said if he is taking substantial liquids during the afternoon we would be discharged home. Levi took that challenge and drank multiple cans of nutritional supplement and we were discharged home early evening on Friday. 

The last week has been full of ups and downs. Overall Levi is doing remarkably well. Our main goal is hydration and pain management. However, Levi is less than pleased with his diet restrictions and restraints. His current diet is liquid only! He is not pleased and constantly pulls food out of the pantry and fridge. He also requests food in sign language that we can't offer him. Trevor and I are doing our best to offer all types of foods and drinks to Levi. We don't eat anything in front of him that he cannot have. So his soup and smoothie diet is what Trevor and I are enjoying as well.  Furthermore, to ensure Levi can't damage the new roof of his mouth he lives in arm restraints. During the day he wears no-no's. These are like arm splints that go from his armpit to his wrists. This impedes his coordination and his ability to do something. But generally Levi is so resilient and he makes do and wears them without any fuss. At night he wears a softer cotton shirt that basically keeps his arms pinned down to his legs. Again it's not his preference but he is adjusting to getting it put on each time for naps and bed time. 

Overall these restrictions are short lived. As of today we are half way through the roughest part of recovery.  Levi will have several follow up appointments where his restrictions are lifted and further plans for his care are made. 

We appreciate the continued support and love from all our family and friends. 

Give grace and be kind - Trevor, Danielle and Levi