We
began our journey into the world of cleft lips and palates nine years ago
in December 1990. During an ultrasound to rule out spina bifida, the ultrasound
technician discovered the cleft. Joe and I were so relieved we weren't dealing
with something far more serious.We were referred to Dr. William Magee and met him during our seventh month of pregnancy. His casual manner immediately put us at ease. He explained the new developments being made in the repairs of clefts and tentatively planned to operate on our baby a day after his birth.
Click here to read the rest of Casey's story.
Our journey began on March 25, 1999...our son Brock Alexander Moore was born.
It
had to be several hours and Brock refused to come into this world. During
my C-section, all I could think about was all the preparations we had made
over the last nine months. I was just anxious to see this child. The next
thing I remember, my doctor was leaning over and saying, "Your baby has
a problem with his face but it can be fixed, he has a unilateral cleft lip
palate".I thought; This cannot be happening to us. This is not how the fairy tale is supposed to end. We were devastated, until we saw him for the first time.
Click here to read the rest of Brock's story.
Heather's Story
Our
daugher Heather was born with hemangiomas. At first they appeared to be
little strawberry birthmarks that we were told would go away by the time
she was one. By the second week we were getting a little concerned because
the one around her mouth was swelling, looked bruised and became ulcerated.
We spent two weeks at the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in
Norfolk, Virginia, trying to find out what it was she actually had.
Click here to read the rest of Heather's story.
Corey's Story
When
we went for the ultrasound at 20 weeks and the technician said she couldn't
see something on our baby she needed to see, we were very concerned. She
asked us to go outside, walk around a bit and return in a few minutes and
we'd take another look. After some walking in the parking lot, while trying
very hard not to worry, we returned and did another ultrasound. Upon returning
to the ultrasound room, we were told I was carrying a boy. We were ecstatic!
Our first, and a boy on top of that! Then came THE NEWS.Click here to read the rest of Corey's story.
December
15, 1995 was one of the happiest days of my life. My
first child was born. She was so pretty that everyone, even people I didn't
know, were coming up to see my baby. My husband and I were overjoyed that
we had a healthy baby girl named Alexis. Two weeks later a little red spot
appeared right above her lip. But being new parents, we automatically assumed
it was just a birthmark. When we took Alexis for her one-month check-up
the doctor warned us that it might be a birth defect called Hermangioma,
at which point we were referred to a plastic surgeon.Click here to read the rest of Alexis' story.
Travis
J. Weber, age 17, goaltender for the U.S. National Under 18 Hockey Team
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Travis' cavernous hemangioma history is a little unusual, he was born with a weakening in the vessel wall, but no actual tumor. At the age of 5, he was sitting in class, when his tumor erupted, drawing the attention of his teacher who asked if he had hurt himself. He stated "no," but the area was very hard and blue.
Click here to read the rest of Travis' story.