SMILES

I Have read the stories, but was just wondering if there were any pictures of babies born recently. Are there new techniches now? All these seem to be from a few years ago.

My son Liam was born in January. The surgeries they do today are simply remarkable. He has his lip repair in april. If you would like to see a picture of him go to <a href="http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/6790">http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/6790</a> to see what he looks like. He has his palate repair scheduled for November of this year. Feel free to contact me if you wish at rabidkiwi@hotmail.com

The answer to your question is:
No, the tongue is not "tied down" after palate
repair. I had this procedure done when I was older
but I ended up working for the surgeon who had done
the original repair. They sometimes place a "plate"
of some kind over the stitch work, and sometimes
they leave it open to air, it depends on age, and
severity, etc...Best of luck to you and your boy.

My son, JT was born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate in September of this year. Our surgeon closed the lip when he was 12 days old and the palate later at 3 months. These techniques are new – since 1990. JT is doing wonderfully and his scaring is very little compared to what I had expected. My father had his repairs done in the 20’s and 30’s and they never got it right and left enormous scars. JT’s can be missed if I am standing over him and looking at him lying on the floor. He is still too young to know how the speech will be affected but I have met a 13-year-old girl who speaks with no detectable problems. So in summary they keep getting better and better and children born with this condition will be corrected and live almost normal lives