SMILES

Posted: **Mon Jul 28, 2008 2:05 am**

Hi everyone,
I'm have been a cleft patient at Kaiser Permanente. I've had just about every surgery there was. The reconstruction when I was just a baby, the bone graph at the age of 6 or 7 yrs old. The tubes in the ears for preventing of ear infections. The most recent ones that I remember from high school was the Lip Flip and the reconstruction of my nose. I would be happy to answer any questions that you have about clefts, and if I don't know the answer I can ask my parents for find the answer for you.
My e-mail is jamielhenderson@hotmail.com.

Until later.
Silver

Posted: **Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:17 am**

Hi Silver!

If you don't mind my asking what is a 'lip-flip? I've never heard this term.

Thanks!

Kelle

Posted: **Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:02 pm**

A Lip-Flip is where they take some of the bottom(or top) lip and flip it up(or down) to the top to make the lips more even. In my case they flipped a small section from my bottom to my top. No one notices till I point it out.

Posted: **Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:24 pm**

HI! It's always nice to hear from someone from the "grown up" cleft world! Thanks for taking your time to post! Just out of curiosity.......how is your speech, and at what age did you start talking? (You'll probably have to go to MOM for that one..... :wink:

)
My 2 year old (BCP) doesn't have much speech development at all, and I'm wondering if he has a simple delay or if it's cleft related.
Thanks again!

Posted: **Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:56 pm**

I started talking at the age of about 15 months after my reconstruction of my both of my palates. My parents and the speech doctor say I have normal speech with slight air leak that only the ones trained or recognize it would hear it.
I do have a younger brother who is also a cleft, but is only a single to my double cleft that went all the way back through the soft palate. He did start talking will about the age of three because he had myself and my older brother who would get him things so he didn't really need to talk.
If you are still worried about it you could talk to your pediatrician and if you have a speech doctor you can ask them to try somethings with your child.

Posted: **Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:28 am**

Thanks for your explanation. It sounds like something we may be facing in the future as well. Avery's upper lip is very thin and I feel like this is something Doc may address when he does the revisions to his nose.

As for talking, he babbles constantly, but nothing coherent. He will be a year old on the 10th of August.

Posted: **Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:43 pm**

Jamie L. Henderson:

It appears to be the you certainly overcame the trials of having to deal with a bilateral cleft lip and palate and you basically have no issues save for a slight amount of nasality in your speech. That is remarkably good considering what the outcome of such a severe cleft can be sometimes. I had a classmate that had a fairly bad unilateral cleft lip and palate that was not repaired very well and he has a major speech impediment. He has other issues too. If you have read my posts, I have a slight cleft myself but there are some issues with it though. None of them are major and I did not require surgery for my cleft. If you have pictures of yourself, please send them if possible.

Jeff Alterman