Adult cleft

[Purelady1]

Just curious to see if many adults ever continue with
surgerys. Im 28 and about to have a final go at it. By my own
choice and an insurance that covers it YAH HOO!! Anyways curious
to find out how it went?

[amgula]

Good Luck during your surgery.



I am a 31 year old female who has had over 28 surgeries and I
still have a few yet to go (in my opinion). I'm having a small
revision done to my nose in the doctor's office next week (can't
believe I'm at the stage where I don't have to have procedures
done at the hospital any longer!). The next "big"
surgery will be sometime this year-the second attempt at grafting
bone into my mouth. My guess is that a lot of adults who have
Cleft Lip & Palate conditions have work done as adults, if
not everything was done during childhood. But it depends on the
person.

[Patricia S Davis]

I hope that your surgery went well. I to am looking at having
the implant done for under my nose. They will be taking bone from
my skull and transplanting under the nose. I will be getting this
done this summer so I can enjoy the birds and blooms this summer
and trying to deal with the pain of surgery. I am 48 years old
and hoping that this will be my last surgery for this condition
but they are always coming up with something new. I hope it will
be the ear problems that people have with the palate and lip
condition. thanks and hope everything goes well for you.

[Anonymous]

Hi Patricia,



I wish you luck in your upcoming treatment and surgery. If
you don't mind, I'd like to offer some tips to follow so that you
will recover heathily and happily.



So that this unsolicited advice doesn't seem to be coming
from someone without any background, let me tell you a little
about myself. I'm a 32 year old female with a bi-lateral cleft
lip and palate. I've had over 28 surgeries, which included mostly
revisions, and some major, reconstructive types. I've posted
articles on this site responding to various related topics.



I had (failed) bone graft surgery about 4 years ago, to close
the fisures (bi-lateral, like in the shape of the letter 'Y').
The surgery itself was not as bad as I thought. I do not remember
my mouth being very sore, though a little swollen. The area where
the bone was harvested from, because muscles were cut, was
terribly sore. (Think of how it feels if you've really worked out
much too hard). The points I wanted to tell you about are to do
with how to help yourself while healing. They're probably all
common sense, but I wish someone had really made sure I was
taking care of myself afterwards because I believe that I would
not need to have this surgery re-done.
================================= -Maintain a very positive
outlook. It's amazing what can be done by talented surgeons these
days. Remember how fortunate you are to have this available to
you and that you are brave enough to make this change to
yourself. ================================= -Maintain a positive
outlook, again. Do not let anyone make you sad to the point of
crying. One of the possible reasons my surgery failed has to do
with the affect of tears within the facial structure irritating
the healing somehow. If you are going through any kind of
emotional situations, try to have them resolved long before your
surgery. After the surgery, because it is emotional, you may cry
easily over even ordinary things. This is your time. And not a
time for crying. ================================= -Let others
care for you. It's hard to admit sometimes that we cannot do
everything all the time. If someone offers to cook dinner or
bring you something, let him/her.
================================= -Rest. Relax. Recuperate. Don't
treat your recovery time as a vacation; a time to catch up on
projects, things to fix or start. It's easy to be bored with just
recovering, so plan for this. Compile a list of movies you've
always meant to rent, books to borrow from the library, letters
to write to friends, recipes to try, etc. If you do things at a
very slow pace, everything will take longer and you won't be
antsy looking for things to do. =================================
-Take pictures, before and after. Document your progress. It is
easy to forget where we've come from, just as easy as it is to
"get used to" a new haircut or color. Seeing yourself
everyday sometimes impedes upon the appreciation you should grant
yourself. Again, good luck to you. If you wish to correspond,
my email is amgula@sprynet.com

[Jennifer]

I am 30 years old and I have not had surgery since 7th grade, and I am wanting reconstructive surgery. Did you pay for your surgeries out of pocket, or were you able to get your insurance company to pay?

[Anonymous]

Hi Jennifer,
On a lark, I scrolled down this message board this far, and saw your post.


In answer to your question about insurance paying-every surgery that I have had as an adult was paid by my insurance, either entirely or over 75%. In fact, I don't recall a single bill coming in that was more than a couple hundred dollars.


Clefts are considered birth defects, and though sometimes insurance companies will try to deny the claim, saying it is a "pre-existing condition", they will cover it anyway. Some insurance companies do have a waiting period, for example 6 months, before they will cover the cost of the procedure. If you at a new job and newly insured, it's probably a good idea to go to whatever surgeon you are interested in having do the work, just to get the ball rolling. This way, when the insurance kicks in, all your questions will be answered, the surgery date will be scheduled and you'll be on your way.


I know it will be an anxious time for you, but plenty of people with clefts have decided to go back and get additional work done in their 20's, 30's and later. You may want to check out the Cleft Club on Yahoo. Lots of people write to it about all sorts of cleft-related issues. Good luck to you!
amgula