pharyngeal flap

[Lori Woodward]

My son is 6. He has had a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. After the (T&A) he has been experiencing hypernasality. He has been seeing a craniofacial surgeon here in Chicago and has had his palate elongated. He is going to speech therapy 3x a week. Nothing seems to be working for him. Now we are looking at doing the pharyngeal flap. I am terrified!! Can anyone help calm my nerves? Any good post-op results? Also, does anyone know of anyone who has had the hypernasality due to the removal of tonsils and adenoids? Feel free to email me at home.
Lori.m.w@home.com

[Anonymous]

Lori,
Just happened to see your email. I am both a ENT surgeon and a Plastic Surgeon, so I have seen kids with VPI from both angles.
This does sometimes happen after tonsillectomy. Before I would consider a pharyngeal flap, I would do a pushback palatoplasty. Its much simpler and has the same result without the potential for SLEEP APNEA. There's also an Orticochea Pharyngoplasty which your son may be a candidate for. We do these procedures about 2-3 x per week. Feel free to contact me at rsrosenblum@hotmail.com or call at 757 627 6700(O) or 757 537 8086 (H). Good luck!
Richard

[Cindy]

Hi. I am a mom of 4 and 3 of my kids were born with cleft lip and palate. My son who wasn't born with a cleft had a T&A a couple of years ago and he did the same thing. I was so upset. IT took him sometime but he's doing much better. I know being born with a cleft puts your child at risk for the nasal issues, but give him some time. How long ago was the surgery? The flap procedure is a very drastic step especially if he doesnt' need it. One of my daughters had it and I wouldn't recommend it unless absolutely necessary. If you want to e-mail me privately you can do so by mailing me at CinDLou1970@aol.com


Good luck!!


Cindy

[dboyd]

Help.I have a 7 year old girl who was to have the "v"flap surgery.After putting her under the surgeon did a final check of her blood vessels in the back of her throat and realized that 2 of them were in the way.(she didn't get the surgery)We have talked to an orthodontist about an operator that fits like a retainer,he thinks her gag reflex is to strong for this.Does anyone have any ideas or have you ever seen this before. She's very smart and it's begining to bug her that she doesn't speak as clear as everyone else
Please email me at dyforu11@yahoo.com thanks