Just an Hour of your Time Please
The reason the Rotaplast team is here is because of the difference one surgery, sometimes as short as one hour, can make in a child’s life. To carry the stigma of cleft lip or palate into the operating room and to leave with the promise of new smile, inside and out, is truly amazing to see. Below are before and after photos, so you can be amazed too.
Kristine
Kristine is an inquisitive three-year-old from Tuburan, the community that sent 15 families to Cebu City. She had a cleft lip and palate repair.
Brett
Brett is also three years old and from Tuburan. Such a sweet snuggly boy. He will go home, and within a few weeks, look like a normal kid with normal-kid possibilities in life, just what his family wished for.
Jessel
Jessel is almost five. Also from Tuburon, Jessel was up and around the very next day, coloring, playing, and eager to get back home.
Janino
Janino is a happy, social 10-month old. A bit teary-eyed after rising from a nap the day after surgery, but that’s understandable, and the rest of us were often teary-eyed too.
In total, the team did seven surgeries on day one. All were children under the age of five. Tomorrow is day two, with eleven patients scheduled, including an 18 year-old with a cleft palate who as a result, has difficulty speaking clearly. She can’t wait to go to college without being mimicked and teased.