My son's crainial facial appointment
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (12285)
United States
February 27, 2024 7:17pm CST
We finally took my son to his Cranial Facial specialist for the first time since 2018. Things kept happening that kept us from taking him but today we finally got him there. The clinic only runs a few times a year so it's difficult to get him in sometimes. We made the most of the day. We all took off work and school and started the morning by going to Burger King for breakfast before making our way to the appointment. We had to wait forever for the appointment. We got there half an hour early because we wanted to make sure we found it in time and then had to wait over another half an hour to go back.
We found out our son is officially taller than me by about an inch. When we are back there they also have a speech therapist come and check and see how well he speaks and she was surprised how well he speaks. She said he speaks extremely well and seemed surprised how well spoken he is.
Once we were back it went quickly. The surgeon who did my son's lip came in and checked him out and said that his scar has almost disappeared which is amazing and said the same thing he always says which is that his nose is slightly slanted but it's cosmetic as long as he isn't having trouble breathing which he isn't. He does snore a bit because of it but doesn't have any trouble breathing. He said it'll be up to my son whether or not he wants to correct it later which knowing my son he won't. I honestly don't even notice it but he's a plastic surgeon so he's trained to notice it.
Most people don't even know my son had a cleft lip. We were fortunate that his lip wasn't worse and he only needed the one surgery. There were kids waiting that I could tell were still continuing their cleft journey with numerous surgeries and nothing makes you more grateful than knowing you're done with surgeries. My son was a one and done surgery and I'll always feel blessed about that.
After the appointment, we went and got lunch at my son's favorite Mexican restaurant. We then went and saw my mom at the nursing home. My mom was happy to see us and I talked to her for a while. After that, we came home and my husband and I took a nap. My husband had to go to his second job and I continued to nap so hopefully I didn't mess up my sleep schedule. I don't always sleep the way I should so I needed the nap. My son was grateful for the day off school but was nervous about the appointment which he soon learned wasn't a big deal. They didn't poke or prod him the way I think he thought they were going to. I told him it was pretty easy. They just checked out his mouth and nose and pretty much sent us on our way. The longest part of the appointment is waiting to be seen and getting to and from there since it's about a twenty-minute drive one way.
4 people like this
4 responses
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@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
28 Feb
@AmbiePam We were super fortunate with our son. You can barely tell he had a cleft. There were kids in the waiting room who were both younger and older than my son and most of them you could tell a lot better than you could with my son. My son's surgeon is amazing he also did my cousin's lip and you can't tell very much with her either. I feel like if they just have the lip they are less likely to scar as badly also depending on how bad the lip is. My son and cousins all had the incomplete cleft so it wasn't a big cleft.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12285)
• United States
28 Feb
It's not uncommon if they only have the lip which is rare. Most children who have a cleft also have the palate which is where all of the surgery lies. Clefts are not usually genetic but in my son's case, they are. My son was born with what is called an incomplete unilateral cleft lip. Incomplete means it didn't go into his nose it stopped just before and unilateral means it was only on one side. I didn't know about the cleft until after he was born and I didn't find out it was genetic until a little later when I found out my cousin's daughter was born with the exact same type of cleft and a few years later I found out my other cousin's child also was born with the exact same type of cleft. It's interesting that they are all grandchildren of a twin. My grandma had three sets of surviving twins. I don't know if that's just coincidence or not but found it interesting. I remember later on when looking up stuff for cleft research finding someone had commented on a book I was looking at and their last name was the same as my maiden name which is not at all a common surname. It was interesting. Having a cleft lip by itself is not common but if they have a cleft by itself it's almost always a singular surgery. It's the cleft palate that requires so many surgeries. My cousins both also had one surgery. They are both done growing though and no longer see the specialist.
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@marguicha (219877)
• Chile
28 Feb
I´m glad that the doctor´s appointment went so well. Your son´s cleft lip must have been a very minor one, thanks be given.![](/Content/images/emotes/hugs.gif)
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@marguicha (219877)
• Chile
28 Feb
@sissy15 When it is just the lip, it is more a problem for a plastic surgeon. I have even seen actors in movies who have still the scar left from a clef lip. But if it is a cleft palate, it is very difficult for the baby to suck. Take care, sweetie.
@JudyEv (334404)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Feb
That's good that it's all over and done with with no dramas. I can imagine your son is quite relieved to have to done and dusted.
@Happy2BeMe (99355)
• Canada
28 Feb
Glad to hear that everything went well and you all had a great day.
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