What kinds of questions do I ask a surgeon?

[Kelly]

I just had my fourth ultrasound and it is now confirmed that my baby has a small cleft lip on the right side and most likely a cleft palate. I am consulting with two differnt surgeons and I would like to know, from anyone who has gone through this, what are some important questions I should ask in deciding a surgeon. I would love any advice. Thanks

[ldarnell92@hotmail.com]

Hello,My 1st child was born with a large cleft lip and palate! You are a step ahead of me though, we did not know while I was preg. so this was all a shock,The 1st question I would ask would be when is the earliest that a repair could be done and also how many surgeries will it take,my daughter had hers repaired at 3 weeks the lip and palate both, so the earlier the better! The earlier the repair th4e better speech and better feeding, which alot of surgeons will not do surgery until a certain weight is achieved which is harder than you will think, so I will say the earlier the better, Good Luck! We had a great surgeon, if you would like more info please email me, I would love to hear from you and help in any way I can, I know this is a big thing for your familt to go through so you need someone to talk to! ldarnell92@hotmail.com

[Calvero]

You can look at:


<a href="http://www.plasticsurgery.org/psec/2000/mtrchoice/make.html">http://www.plasticsurgery.org/psec/2000/mtrchoice/make.html</a>


and click on the "What Questions Should I Ask?" link. Although it deals with plastic surgery in general, it can give you some ideas on what to ask.


You can also call Cleftline at 1-800-24-CLEFT about what questions you should ask.


Kim, The Cleft Club, <a href="http://cleftclub.cjb.net">http://cleftclub.cjb.net</a>