Medical Stuff

Hi everyone. Just thought I would post some medical info. about cleft affected kids in general. We had researched quite a bit before the referral and continue to do so. There won't be too much time to do anything once she arrives! Try not to get overwhelmed with it all. We are trying not to too! The Lancaster Cleft Clinic is awesome. They have a team of doctors who work together to deal with all of the different issues that sometimes go along with cl/cp.

I will start with the cleft lip. As you know she was born with bilateral cleft lip and it was "fixed" when she was 2-3 months old. We think that this was done as part of a government initiative and was probably done by a Chinese doctor. We have learned that many times they just stitch the lip up so that the baby can eat and also have the chance to be adopted. Many times they do not attach the muscles in the upper lip properly and the child cannot move their upper lip. This is a problem because the child then cannot pronounce certain sounds and cannot pucker or kiss and when they smile their upper lip does not smile with them. Looking at quite a number of pictures of Mei Mei I am guessing that this is the case for her. If so, she will undergo a lip revision here to attach the muscles. We also will do plastic surgery to reduce the scarring from her first surgery. We are sure they will do a great job but we are prepared for the reality that she will have noticeable scars. As Rob says, God accepts our scars we will accept hers! We are thankful for the opportunity to walk beside her and help her to put these things into proper prospective.

Moving on to the cleft palate. As you know we were amazingly blessed to hear that a wonderful doctor from the US recently performed cleft palate surgery. We have noticed that during the cleft exchange week when Mei Mei's surgery was done the repairs of the other children were quite severe. This served the purpose of the cleft exchange program allowing US doctors to teach the Chinese doctors how to surgically correct complex problems. Of course it would be nice if Mei Mei was just thrown into the mix because of her age. We don't want to speculate about things we are not sure of so we will see. A cleft palate repair is many times once and done. However other procedures may include adjusting the length of the palate, some type of flap surgery to improve speech and the way air moves or something of that nature, and repairing holes or gaps that my occur after the first major surgery. Many of these surgeries/procdures with the lip and palate etc. can be combined especially now that the major surgeries are taken care of!

Speech therapy will probably eventually become part of our weekly routine in the Fisher family. Every cleft case is so different so it is very hard to tell how much therapy she will need. We will first focus on her emotional adjustment and learning a new language all together! We are not sure exactly where therapy will take place. We have heard that kids are given therapy at home, in school, and even the preschool setting.

Hearing problems... Some kids with clefts have some hearing loss due to infections etc. Many need tubes. Mei Mei's medical records do not indicate any hearing loss or ear infections so we will wait and see while hoping for the best.

Dental work, dental work, dental work, dental work, dental work. Need I say more?

Again, I am telling myself and all of you... do not be overwhelmed. Being born with a cleft lip/cleft palate can sure be a pain in the rear but it is not at all life threatening. We are SO BLESSED in this country to have access to such amazing health care. In China, many of these children will live their entire lives defined by this correctable condition. What an amazing opportunity we have to give this little one a future defined by her strengths, hopes and dreams. Thank you Jesus!