Last Sunday our team met a mother who brought her daughter to Cure Kijabe for cleft lip surgery. As a child, Monica had been treated for a cleft lip and palate herself, but the surgery was not fully effective and she has been suffering from difficulty eating and speaking for the past thirty years due to fistulas in the the roof of her mouth.
While prepping Monica’s daughter, Joyce, for surgery, Gladys, a member of the local team who trained with Lance to make obturators this week, noted that Monica was struggling to speak and asked if she would like an appliance.
While Dr. Michelle and Dr. Cooper operated on Joyce, Gladys took impressions of Monica’s palate and anterior vestibule. By the end of the day, Monica had received a new obturator for herself and got to hold her sweet daughter following her own successful surgery. Because of the obturator, Monica is able to eat and drink without liquid coming out of her nose or aspirating for the first time in thirty years!
Pre-Op Joyce 
Dr. Cooper and Dr. Michelle 
Gladys and Joyce 
Post-op with nasal stents still in place.