Repairing fistula

[Jill]

Our son Bradley had his lip repaired at 3mos and his palate at 14mos. He is now 2 and has a fistula remaining on his palate. The cleft palate team says he should have the fistula repaired now and a revision for his lip and nose. Our surgeon wants to wait until he's 5. Does anyone have any opinions on waiting vs. not waiting? He will be begining speech therapy soon since he cannot sound many consonants.

[Ros]

My daughter had a fistula repaired at five years
old. Two weeks after surgery it re-opened.I felt devastated. Two years later she had the surgery again. Again it re-opened within the month. Now we are waiting till after braces. Every situation is different but this is what happened with us. She is now 11 and in her first year of braces. If the fistula does not bother her or affect her speech then they will probably leave it as the actual fistula is very small. The smaller it is the harder it is to fix.
I wish you all the best.