Re: re: sarah

[Guest guest]

Hi !

When I was 7 (20 yrs ago) I had my hard palate closed. I suppose it

was a fistula then, too, but I didn't know it at the time. All I can

remember is being in class at school and thinking it was cool that I

didn't have to blow my nose 'cause I could just suck it through

(gross...but I was 7). It was closed for a pretty long time. I never

had a bone graft before. They had placed a modified bridge on two

teeth to the left and one to the right of my cleft in hopes that this

would stabalize the entire area (I was 17). Unfortunately, in the

next 6 years the gum receeded from these teeth, as well as the hard

palate cleft opening again. In addition to a cleft on the palate, I

developed a fistula in the front of my teeth. As of right now, that

fistula remains closed and looks really good. I think the tissue

there is a lot more flexible, though. The hard palate seems so, well,

hard...so I'm not sure how they bring the pieces together. My fiance

just looked, and said he unofficially thinks it looks better. I just

keep obsessing about it!

On Wednesday I'll ask the surgeon, but in your experience was a

fistula repair a day stay sort of thing? Was the recovery quick?

There was also mention of having to graft more bone in the area if it

was thought the implant would not take. Have you had a bone graft by

itself before?

Thanks so much for your encouraging words. I'm so happy that you are

posting though...I've been so worried about your recovery! My fiance

asks about you too ) Yours was the closest procedure I could find

on these support groups...so I feel a certain kind of bond. I hope

things go better on Wed! I have also been on long stretches of

antibiotics before (I spent a year and half on augmentin in high

school...I lost so much weight because my GI system was a mess). I'm

also developed a resistance to many antibiotics. My problem was

always that my left sinus (the side of my cleft) would not drain

properly...so I would get a mild sinus infection or cold and it would

last for months. At some point, around age 17, the infection became

so bad I began passing out. At that point they did a caldwell-luck

procedure to open the sinus cavity into the nose...I think this is

when the fistulas started to develop. The ENT I used for that surgery

was in my insurance plan and said he had dealt with cleft patients

before...but came out after my surgery lasted 4 hrs more than expected

and told my mom " things weren't where they were supposed to be. " You

don't say... A couple years later I had another sinus/rhinoplasty

surgery...but things were never really the same.

Anyway, my point to this rambling is that I know what it's like to

have severe sinus troubles due to the cleft...and being resistant to

antibiotics. I hope your infection clears up after Wednesday...and

you can start to feel better )

Love from across the ocean...

-becky

> Hey !

>

> I'm the same Becky#2 from the other site too Yeah, they tried to

> repair the fistula and cleft at the same time as the LeFort. The

> surgeon was really concerned about the bone graft taking because of

> lack of blood flow due to the advancement. Also, he was very

> concerned with infection. After four weeks, it appeared that

> everything had healed pretty well - all the incision sites were

> closed...but the tissue around where my cleft would be were still

> really raised. It's really hard to tell if it's still a cleft - or

> just the way the tissue is sitting. I can say that if I rinse with

> water/mouth wash - it doesn't come out my nose like before...but I

> think I can feel air on my tongue when I breathe through my nose.

>

> I just really wish it was over. They say any further bone grafting or

> fistula closing would be a walk in the park after this...but I was

> hoping not to have to. I already know I have to get my nose and lip

> revised in 7 months...and I still need the dental implant. Sometimes

> it seems a little overwhelming. Sigh.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> -becky

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