Page 5 - Behind The Smile - Spring 2015

him. At the Clinic, he felt right graft taken from his hip to create music. “I got a drum set for
at home.”
Corey had his first surgery at
3 months old to have his lip repaired. His second surgery came when he was 18 months old. In the second surgery, flaps of gum tissue from the part of his jaw that was not cleft, were used to close the hard palate and create a soft palate.
When Corey was 5 years old,
Dr. Leber from the LCPC removed his tonsils and adenoids and at- tached the soft palate to the back of the throat. This was the first surgery that Corey remembers. Later surgeries included a bone
a bone ridge for his teeth.
Corey notes that “no one judged me at school for how I looked. Kids would ask me about it and when I had the bone graft surgery from my hip, all the students made me cards.” Corey also had speech therapy and may need additional surgery for his nose in the next year or two. He’ll be getting braces in May, now that his new palate is in place and doing well.
As a teenager, Corey has experi- enced a lot more than his school peers. But, he has a “can do” attitude and is passionate about
Christmas,” he said, “and I’d like to be a music teacher.” Other hobbies include fishing
on the Susquehanna, going to the beach, playing video games (Skate 3 is his favorite) and skateboarding.
“The Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic is absolutely wonderful,” Sheila says with a smile. “We are so happy to be there and it is wonderful for Corey to know
that there are other kids with cleft as well.”
Sheila concludes with “what I want parents to know is that there is hope. They just need to reach out to the Clinic or to other parents and know that they are not alone.”
Corey was featured in our recent Promising Smiles Annual Appeal. To find out more and make a donation click on http://www.cleftclinic.org/how-can-i-help/donate/
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic ••• Behind the Smile eMagazine ••• Spring 2015 _____________________________ Page 5