Cleft palate??
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Topic: Cleft palate??
Posted By: youngmumnz
Subject: Cleft palate??
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 5:17pm
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hi i was wondering how common cleft palate is? as i found out yesterday my lil girl has it shes 6 weeks old today. I know the surgery will be painful for her but apart from that are there any long term things? will she like ever other girl her age once her speech is caught up?? Im sorry for the questions i just have so many lol
Thanks heaps Jess -------------  http://www.playtimemagic.co.nz - Playtime Magic - "Little minds can do great things"
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Replies:
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 5:49pm
| I don't have much experience with this, but I know someone who had a cleft palate. The only thing I remember is that he needed braces when he was older as his teeth came through crooked, but you wouldn't have to worry about that til the teenage years. |
Posted By: 11111
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 7:01pm
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my friend has a little boy with this and he did fine after the operation I thing like Stacy said often they can need thing's like braces atc. Oh and he had to drink form a special bottle. ------------- Deborah Mum to:   
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Posted By: ShellandBella
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 7:15pm
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Sorry to hear about this, but I can tell you the guy in CHCH who does most cleft palate surgeries does a FANTASTIC job you wouldn't know your child ever had one. Usually there is the initial operation to fix the palate and join the lip, and then a few minor procedures later in life when baby grows from child to adult as things grow and change shape.
And BTW, its very common and very easily treated. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: JadeC
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 7:27pm
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I don't know heaps, but a friend's baby had a fairly minor one, so from what I understand they can vary in how bad they are.
I'm sorry to hear your little girl has one, how scary. ------------- http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 8:11pm
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My2angels wee boy Kobe was born with a cleft palate and had the surgery, she'll probably see this and reply but you could always PM her. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: my2angels
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 9:20pm
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Yep my wee boy had a cleft lip and I know quite a few people whos children have lip and palate too.
You will probably have Jesse Kenton Smith, he is the chch plastic surgeon and he is fantastic (and totally sexy) There are no real long term effects and honestly you wouldnt even know Kobe had one. Jesse also operated on a couple of other wee ones I know and he has just done the most amazing job. The op isnt that bad and they keep them pretty sedated after so they dont feel any pain. What sort of cleft does she have, just the palate? Honestly as far as 'abnormalities' go a cleft is one of the better ones to have, once she has had the op you wont even know she had one. Im in chch too so PM me if you have any question or whatever and I can email you some before and after photos of Jesses work and can put you onto my really good friend whos wee girl had the lip and palate. |
Posted By: ShellandBella
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 11:09pm
Yep, I'd have to agree!! And a nice accent too!  ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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my2angels wrote:Posted By: youngmumnz
Date Posted: 25 January 2008 at 11:35pm
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lol perving at the surgeon lol! hahaha did either of you find it daunting meeting the whole team at once or did you get to meet them bit by bit?
Im glad to know that Jesse is a good plastic surgeon its such a relief :), do they let parents be there when they do the op? i wanna hold her hand (sooooo a paranoid mother lol) Its good to know there are no long term effects for some reason all i could picture was her power shooting food and stuff out her nose while at school lol Do they go on solids at the normal age or do you have to wait till after the op? i heard about mixing formula with fruit? Its a little while off yet but i just want to be prepared, im ordering a pigeon bottle the ones specially made for cleft palate bubs so im hoping that helps her feed more efficiently i like the fact they have squeezy bottles so no pushing the teat with my pinky yay. (I just noticed i have Christmurch under my picture glad you guys managed to figure out where im from, i guess from the spelling i sure dont lol) thanks for the replys :D had made me feel alot better. Jess ------------- http://www.playtimemagic.co.nz - Playtime Magic - "Little minds can do great things"
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Posted By: babyg
Date Posted: 26 January 2008 at 9:21am
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Hi Youngmumnz,
Yep, they are real common. Cleft lip and palate abnormalities run in DH family (grandfather and sister that we are aware of) so our chances of having baby with clefts are very high but not something we are afraid of at all. My SIL had very severe deformities (born 27yrs ago) and you can tell that she has had something done but not easy to distinguish what. But like i said she had the lot and very bad. It's amazing how much better the plastic surgery has got in 27yrs! You might find that your little girl has minor issues with sinus and ear-nose-throat problems (my SIL has very bad hearing on one side due to her clefts) in future depending on her severity but if it was only picked up at 6wks old then hers is probably quite minor and you'll probably never know she had anything wrong after the surgery. You might find her tooth cutting is a little delayed, might be good to talk to your specialist about any foreseable teeth trouble in relation to the cleft so that you know what to expect in her case. Best of luck. ------------- Ev, Mum to: Carys Ruby - 4 October 2007 Spencer James - 2 July 2010 |
Posted By: my2angels
Date Posted: 26 January 2008 at 9:24am
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You wont be able to be there for the op but you can take her down to the theatre and i think stay there till they are asleep from memory.
My friends wee girl had no sucking reflex so she had to have a wee thing that she put in the teat of her bottle to make it flow rather than suck. Yep i did find it really scary meeting everyone. You have cleft clinic on a yearly basis and they check the progress etc... but its held at the hospital dental centre across from the hospital and you go into the room and EVERYONE comes in at once, Jesse, the speech team, orthodontist etc... and starts talking to you and comparing notes, it so intimidating. I found it hard that I was suppose to make all these decisions that would effect my child for life and i would have to know all this stuff that was totally overwhelming and I felt like i wanted my mum there cos she knows everything and you rely on your parents then i realised hang on IM the mum here I need to know this stuff and just got on with it (hope that makes sense, if not it will when it happens to you!) Ive found chch cleft team fantastic though. we have had speech therapy even though he probably didnt need it but they wanted to make sure. he will get dental work if he needs it and he will also get a nose job if he wants it when he is 18. Once your in the system they are great. Not sure about the solids with a palate, I'll ask my friend what she did but from memory they did the op at around 6mths so it wasnt like she was old and couldnt eat properly. With your wee girl is it her hard, soft or both palate that is missing? |