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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  3746 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Have any of you participated in a medical study?

Yes, sort of.

I was born with a cleft pallet, which is an abnormal facial development which essentially meant that there was a huge gaping hole in the roof of my mouth. It looked like this:

I also had a cleft lip in utero which self healed, leaving me a hair line scar at birth from my nose down to my lip. If it had not healed in the womb, I would have had a lip similar to this one at birth:

When I was two years old I underwent two different surgeries. Both of these surgeries involved taking skin from the back of my throat and grafting it to the roof of my mouth, thereby creating a "pallet" for me. The surgery was performed at the University of Michigan and the surgeons there did a fantastic job.

I have always thought that my being born with the lip healed was miraculous but my roof of my mouth being repaired so well was an act of great skill and I owe the surgeons a huge debt of gratitude.

So, as for the "medical study" aspect of it all, I would go back several times a year to the University of Michigan for checkups all the way up till about the time of middle school and the incoming otolaryngologists (ENT's) would study me. As a kid I took pride in them checking out the masterpiece that is my pallet, but as I got older it was more and more annoying. Now, as an adult I'd gladly go back and let them basque in the glow from my perfectly sculpted pallet.

tmi?





humanodon  ·  3746 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Cool. Never heard of anyone's cleft lip self-healing before. Do you have any other powers? I really do think it's awesome that cleft lips and cleft palates are so routinely and easily repaired now. From what I understand, Doctors Without Borders do lots of these and it really improves a person's quality of life.

thenewgreen  ·  3746 days ago  ·  link  ·  

No other magical powers to speak of, it seems I used up all my magic in utero. But hey, that's cool with me. I donate money to an organization called Operation Smile and my brother is actively involved with helping them fund raise. It is awesome that these surgeries are not only routine these days, but they are also relatively inexpensive to perform. I believe Operation Smile estimates that the surgeries they perform overseas cost roughly $300 per child. That's amazing! At the time of my palate reconstruction the procedure was still relatively new as I understand it -hence the scrutiny by incoming medical residents.

Honestly, I need to do more to help this organization. Every year they have something called the "Grin Gala" in Washington DC, I think I'll start attending, raising more money and awareness and asking how I can be a more active participant.