Stella has a few words to say for her six month birthday.

Dr. Martin Kaminker, here with Stella at her 6 month check up, is the Surgeon who implanted the Latham device. Dr. Kaminker, Oral/Maxillofacial Surgeon, Dr. Nini, Craniofacial Plastic Surgeon, & Dr. Horowitz, Ear/Nose/Throat will coordinate with each other in the removal of Latham device, Lip Adhesion Surgery & insertion of Tympanostomy Tubes for drainage of the ears. These procedures will all be performed at the same time to minimize the number of surgeries on Stella.

DOUBLE CLICK IMAGE- This image was borrowed from the World Craniofacial Foundation site. This was such a good image, just click on it and you will see the transformation take place right in front of you.

Dad kind of explains everything in the next slide. If you should ever have any questions for me to answer or comments to pass on feel free to e/mail me at cazmo01@comcast.net Just make sure you put cleft/palate in the subject line. Or I'll sponge bob it with the rest of the spam mail I get each day.

Papa King's account of what has happened to me, why it has happened, and what my future lies ahead for me........Every child inherits 100,000 genes, 50,000 from each parent. There are a number of inherited genes that interact to form the face, palate, or lip, and that can cause an identified problem.

In reviewing the medical prenatal, family histories and physical examination, it is often possible to identify specific factors that contributed to the baby's cleft lip and palate. The Genetic Counselor can recommend preconception care such as multivitamins that will optimize outcome and decrease the recurrence risk in future pregnancies The counselor can also discuss prenatal diagnostic studies that might be appropriate.

This is my second cousin Anja. I got grandma to spill her guts about what had happened to her sister-in-law in the early seventy's. The account took place back in Germany, back then they still were thinking of that perfect race crap Hitler rammed down there throats, from the old days. But when Anja was born that was a taboo type defect that they were not ready to deal with yet. If she had the expert care they have today things would of went a whole lot smoother for her and the family.

If you do plan and have the Latham device installed, make sure you have a confirmed date set on the lip adhesion procedure, right after the installation of Latham. We have to wait because the surgeon waited on us, but we chose to use the Latham first. So now he is all booked up till the end of May, so there won’t be any more updates, till I get closer to the surgery date.

The day finally had arrived! Early up and to the hospital we went. Today Stella would have her Latham device removed, ear tubes inserted, and her lip and nose fixed. The last one concerned me the most; too many “what if” kept popping in my head. I could see her ten years from now blaming me for her disfigured face. So it was a very sleepless night for me.

They gave Stella her medicinal cocktail and she was so mellow, I wish we were given one. We waited an hour before they took her into surgery. All the docs came out first to explain exactly what each one would be performing on Stella. Then the anesthesiologist took her in his arms and she was gone. Waiting, well I’ll tell you what, put all the stressful situations you have ever had in a bag upon your chest and then try to breath for two hours. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.......there’s Dr. Nini at the door!

Ah, Yeah the Kung Fu moment. I tell you what, when Dr.Nini came out and said everything was just fine; it felt like ten thousand pounds coming off my chest. But then he said that the right side of her nose appears a little high…etc. The lip is swollen right now but in a year it will look great…after that was all a blur. As I walked to the recovery room, all these images of grotesque figures appeared in my head until…..

Dr. Nini is considered one of the foremost experts in plastic surgery in the New York metropolitan area.Dr. Nini specializes in cosmetic surgery of the face, breast and body.He has focused his attention on refining the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques,resulting in smaller scars, less pain, swelling and bruising. Dr. Nini received his extensive training in plastic surgery at the University of Florida; unfortunately he is a Gator fan. His web site is http://www.psanj.com