I
found that having a child with a cleft is not the end of the world. They
can live a completely normal life, and if you have to have a birth defect,
this is the one to have.Brock's pediatrician sent us to a specialist in Knoxville, TN. The end result of our visit was plastic surgery on his lip at 2 months, but the nose and palate reconstruction would have to wait until he was 5. In the meantime, he would have a prosthetic piece made for his mouth. This would take several sessions with a dentist, and his nose would remain flattened on one side.
Well, we were not extremely happy to think our child would have to wait until he was 5 to have his nose fixed. This would be hard on our child socially. What would we face with the prosthetic in the roof of his mouth? Most certainly speech problems.
My husband received a call from one of his associates at work. He said his grandson had been born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate in Japan. They brought him to the States and that a Dr. Magee, a part of Operation Smile, had operated on him. His grandson had his lip, nose and palate reconstruction at just a couple of months of age.
We
made an appointment and went to see Dr. Magee. We sat and discussed Brock's
future. He told us he would close the palate and fix his lip and nose immediately.
Brock will eventually have to have a bone graft to fix the space missing
in his gum. This will not only help to support his nose, but will be needed
for future dental work. This procedure usually is not performed until the
child is about 5. We looked at before and after photos of children he had
operated on, and we were very impressed with the results.Brock had his operation on May 25, 1999 at 2 months of age. Dr. Magee and his staff told us exactly what they were going to do in surgery and what to expect when we saw him in the recovery room.
Brock was in the operating room for 3 hours. It seemed like the longest 3 hours of our lives They called every hour from the operating room to give us an update on Brock, and it was very comforting.
When the surgery was complete, they called us to come to the recovery room. I asked if that was Brock crying in the background and they said yes. His voice had changed because his palate was closed. I had never thought about that. Then we finally saw our child for the first time with his face formed the way it should have been. It was extremely overwhelming.
Brock was required to stay in the Infant Neonatal Unit overnight as a precaution. When the palate is closed, the breathing patterns change and it takes some tie for the child to adjust. He was put in a regular room after one night. His recovery was incredible. The best part was that Brock had plenty of suction to suck on a regular nipple.
We have had
a lot of compliments on his surgery. Many people in the medical field have
told us that they have never seen such a beautiful cleft repair. My pediatrician
was extremely pleased, since this was the first time he had seen a cleft
child with his palate closed at such a young age.Brock had a scar revision on his lip, some rework on his palate and tubes inserted in his ears at 10 months of age.
Today at 18 months, he thrives. You would never know he had any problems at birth. His speech is completely normal without any hissing or nasal sound. He eats all types of food without any problem. It is as if his palate was never affected.
In closing, we feel our child has been given the best care available for a cleft child. He will live a completely normal, well adjusted life and we are forever grateful.
Allen and Lisa Moore