It’s rather late Saturday evening, and like many times before I have been looking back at the post about Frida’s Surgery when she was 18 months old. This time, though, the reason is different than what is has been before.

Frida and I were at the speech therapist’s Thursday afternoon, and just like all the other times, she was doing great at the tasks, she was given. But this time, however well she did, it didn’t change the fact that too much air slipped out of her nose, while she was speaking. I had a chat with the very nice speech therapist after the different tests, and she told me, that she was confident, Frida would need second surgery. Of course, we more or less knew already, because Frida’s voice has been really nasal for quite some time now, but we weren’t sure whether she would grow out of it. Or whether maybe we could do some voice training to help her. But that was a no. In the speech therapist’s professional opinion, Frida is so good at pronunciation, and has such a big vocabulary, that the two things together show quite clearly, she is doing all she can. So if too much air still slips out of her nose, it means her palate is just too short for her to work it correctly.

The conclusion is that Frida will need a second round of surgery. We spoke a bit about the ‘when’, and agreed that while it may be sweet to have the voice of Karen from Will & Grace when you’re less than 5, it’s probably not perceived in quite the same way when you’re a few years older. Also she is starting school next year in April, so the sooner the better. And now Frida will be scheduled for surgery, probably within the next 6 months. While I was talking to the speech therapist, we were both doing our best to use words that Frida wouldn’t understand, switching to English at times, and all in all just trying to make sure she wouldn’t understand what we were talking about. We weren’t successful. I don’t know what Frida got, but while she usually enjoys the visits there, as soon as we started talking about what was coming, Frida just wanted to leave. She pulled my arm, and said she wanted to go home.

So, what is coming? First we will be scheduled for an appointment with a throat specialist. He will run a camera down through her nose to look at her palate from above, while Frida has to say different things. This will give them insight into how Frida’s palate works. Next, we will have an appointment with the surgeons prior to scheduling the operation. If they all agree, next in line is surgery – what’s known as pharyngeal flap procedure.

This is all not that dramatic. It’s a good thing, really, because they will be able to help Frida towards her being able to use her voice better than she does now. I am just more affected by it, than I expected. Perhaps because, while I may have been expecting the procedure, I didn’t expect them to draw the conclusion so soon. When we left there, it felt a bit like I had been punched in the gut, and I had to try hard not to show Frida, as she was already upset. I know, when I have had a bit more time to get used to it, I will see all the good things that will hopefully come out if it, but remembering how tough the first operation was, I just need to grow accustomed to the thought. Well, well.