In less than a week we will once again be heading down to Indianapolis for Megan to have surgery. This time she will have her palate repaired, meaning they will close the crevice in the roof of her mouth. She will also have one of her ear tubes replaced. A lot of people have asked us how they close the palate. Although I am no expert, from what we have gathered from Megan's doctor, they use the existing tissue from both sides of the cleft and shift it to meet in the middle and create a closed palate. I found these pictures and explanation online...
When the roof of the mouth doesn't grow together properly, the condition is called a cleft palate. To repair it, the surgeon will make an incision along both sides of the cleft. Tissue is drawn together from both sides of the cleft to rebuild the roof of the mouth. [Source]
The example in the picture appears to be only a partial cleft, where Megan's is complete, but I assume it works essentially the same way. I tried to get a picture of the inside of her mouth, since it will look much different soon. Sorry, Megan, it's not the most flattering view, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like in there.
Once her palate is repaired and healed, she will be able to eat and speak better. It will be a great blessing for her. We are so grateful for the amazing team of doctors we work with at Riley Hospital and are confident that everything will go well on Thursday. And we are also grateful for the support of our family and friends! Matt's sister Diana will be here next week to help out while we are in Indy and Matt's mom will be here the week after to help out as well. A big THANKS to all of you for your continued support and prayers as we are going through this process!
