Cleft Clinic Visit

We had our cleft clinic appointment today and it went very well. It was a long morning, but Hannah was a trooper and hung in there great. In fact, one of the nurses gave her treats at the end for being the "model patient of the day". As soon as that sucker made it to her mouth, she started crying! That's my girl . .hang in there and hold it together until you get the reward. Then, let loose!! I can't blame her a bit though.

There is fluid in her ears, so one thing they will do is put tubes in her ears when they repair her palate, if not before. This is very typical of children with a cleft palate.

Dr. Grant, her plastic surgeon, was great. He thinks he can close the palate with one surgery, although hers is pretty wide and there are no guaruntees that he won't have to go back in later to complete it. Then, he will do a lip / nose revision when she's 4-5 years old, and finish her gumline repair when she's 8-9 years old. But neither of those will affect her speech like the open palate does. We don't know the date on the palate surgery yet but are looking at late September as a possibility.

I had some pictures to post from the last few days, but am having a bit of difficulty. I'll try to get them up tomorrow, but wanted to at least take a few minutes to let you know how her appointment went today.