Page 7 - Behind The Smile - Winter 2016

over their rst 16 to 18 years of life. When working in one loca- tion over a length of time, one gets to see these young ones from the day they are born, go to school, graduate from high school, some go on to college, get married and then on occa- sion have a child of their own, born with a cleft lip or palate.
It is pretty much like watching your own children grow up but in spurts between the various operations. I am convinced that these children are better able to handle the tough times life o ers due to the many surgical experi- ences they have to endure and the frustrations with di culties
in speech, and always the prob- lems of looking di erent from their peers.
The other aspect that I remem- ber most is the close knit team of professional experts in many di erent medical specialties that
ical condition that involves as many di erent specialties for a common condition such as cleft lip and palate and I have always enjoyed learning from these people who donate their time and e orts for a common cause. This includes: speech, hearing, orthodontics, dentistry, genetics, social workers, feeding special- ists, ENT, prosthedontics, pedi- atricians and plastic surgeons. There is so much we can learn from each other.
One of my biggest thrills came just weeks ago when seeing one of my cleft palate patients, a 13 year old Amish boy who had a pharyngeal ap procedure.
When I asked his mother what she thought of his speech after the operation,
she said “Well, the horses can understand him better now.” I guess that says it all.
It has been a privilege and a pleasure working with the Lancaster Cleft
Palate Clinic all these years. It is a wonderful organization with great
leaders such as Dr. Mo Mazaheri, and Dr. Rusty Long.
Having the ability to perform cleft
lip and palate surgery and ear reconstruction has given me the opportunity to travel on 35 surgical mission
trips to nine di erent countries, including India, Philippines, Chi- na, Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran, Honduras and Ecuador.
“There is no other
medical condition that involves as many di erent specialties for a common condition such as cleft lip and palate and I have always enjoyed learning from these people who donate their time and e orts for a common cause.”
My interests now with retirement will include many things I have been doing throughout my life but now I will have more time
to pursue them. They include more travel (I have been to all continents at least twice for bird watching), tennis, golf, art work, photography, stamp collecting and spending more time with family and friends.
31 December 2015
I have had the privilege to work with at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic. There is no other med-
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic ••• Behind the Smile eMagazine ••• Winter 2016 ___________________________ Page 7