My story

[maxpower]

I felt for a while that I was normal, that my cleft was just a difference and not something that people noticed. Recently, however, I went through a situation related to it that has changed my view.

I have had a girlfriend for almost 4 years. She's a very caring individual and she loves me for me. However, she cannot stand it when people stare at me and are disrespectful towards me. I, on the other part, lived blissfully, ignoring most people, as I actually considered them inferior to me. I have always had the smarts, the looks and the intelligence to "compensate" for my "shortcoming" (I use quotations because I never considered them shortcomings).

She works as a salesperson for a health company and she needed some equipment to set up a demo the day after. I went with her to pick it up and the people moving the equipment apparently started to laugh and say stuff about me in a degrading way. Her boss, which was there at the time, apparently started laughing with them about the degrading comments. You might be asking yourself why I did not react about it. I did not notice. Having grown with this and lived 26 years of my life with this, you adapt, you ignore, you become cold as to the ignorance and stupidity of others.

Needless to say, her boss got an earful from my gf and she talked to me about it. I did not lose my cool. She had already lost hers so I was not going to allow it. We'd end up fighting because of the stupidity of others, ignorance without retribution. So it had to stop.

We talked about the nature of the human being and how people tend to judge other by appearance or even the situations they find themselves in, without any merit or knowledge at all of the circumstances that have gotten the person in that situation. Frail animals we are, that we go only skin deep in assessing others while not being aware of ourselves in our daily routines.

We had a nice conversation that day, but the very nature of it has stayed in my head for a while now. I began to ponder about the consequences of such a life altering event: getting the operation and trying to be the best I can be, but not for others, just for me. I'd be lying if I did say that I want to get the operation just for me, though. I want her to have the best husband she can have when we do get married.

That said, I am now looking for help. We don't even have enough money to get married as it is, let alone me getting a surgery that most people might consider cosmetic. But we all know it goes beyond that. I am requesting your help in finding at least a surgeon or organization that deals with these kind of cases in Puerto Rico. My search has turned up no prospects as of yet, but I will keep trying. And you guys might know more about this than I do, so your help will be more than welcome. I appreciate your support in this matter and hopefully you will read my story and get something out of it.

Father and mothers-to-be, this might just be one of the situations that your kid might have to go through if they are not treated when they are born with this. It has been a really hard life for me, but I reckon it could have been easier with a little more effort. Not that there were many facilities and foundations back then, but there was something that could have been done, but wasn't. Let's help out these children the best we can.

Thanks for your time.

[maxpower]

I forgot to add that I just have a cleft lip. I had surgery when I was born, but it was not completely closed. I don't know why that was. My palate is normal. I realize that this is a blessing as I know the potential for speech impairment when the palate is not there or has a hole in it.

[gc0447]

Hello. My name is Georgette Couvall (Dr. Salyer's patient: http://www.craniofacial.net & http://www.worldcf.org). How are you? Here are my Personal Story & Before and After Picture links:

http://www.craniofacial.net/hypertelorism.htm (Anopthalmus with Frontonasal Dysplasia)
http://www.craniofacial.net/testimonials.htm (Georgette, Patient)
http://www.worldcf.org/support_groups.cfm (Craniofacial anomalies)
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/cmp/spotl ... 06_09a.htm
http://www.cleftadvocate.org/ff0104Georgette.html
http://www.cleftline.org/som/0507/som0507couval.htm
http://www.apert.org/couvall/index.html

Dr. Salyer is my Craniofacial/Cleft Surgeon. I love him like I love my own family. He has not only made a medical miracle for me, but has done the same for many other Craniofacial and Cleft patients from all over the world. He is the best. Dr. Salyer is the director of the International Craniofacial Institute (http://www.craniofacial.net) & founder of the World Craniofacial Foundation (http://www.worldcf.org) in Dallas, Texas (USA). Here are the links that show Before & After Pictures of Dr. Salyer's patients with Cleft Deformities in which he has operated on:

http://www.craniofacial.net/cleft_lip_pictures.htm
http://www.worldcf.org/facial.cfm
http://www.worldcf.org/genetic_cleft.cfm
http://www.worldcf.org/bilateral_clefts.cfm
http://www.worldcf.org/unilateral_clefts.cfm

Please feel free to email me at georgettecouvall@hotmail.com if you would like more information. I wish the best for you.

Sincerely,

Georgette Couvall