Come so far...

Just thought I'd share with you a picture I found in my email folder today. This was McKenna after she had the latham appliance drilled into her mouth. The rubberbands are much like those of orthodontics in that they pull the soft bone of her mouth close enough together so that they can sew her lip together.

After three months and two appliances, they were finally able to sew her lip and nostril together. The result of that can be seen in the header pictures above. On the outside, she looks almost normal other than that small scar and one flattened nostril that lacks cartilage, but the inside of her mouth is a different story. She is missing about 75% of the roof of her mouth which exposes her nasal passage. When she eats, much of her food goes up and out of her nose. Now that she's a little older she knows how to move the food to either side of her mouth so that she doesn't aspirate it. She eats insatiably but remains in the 25% percentile for her height and weight.

The cost for performing these procedures weighs in at over $39,000. Fortunately the Conrads have insurance but a balance remains of almost $5,000. This doesn't include lost wages and their driving expenses. And she has more surgeries to come...

McKenna is scheduled for palate surgery on March 6. Even if the surgery is successful, McKenna may still have to undergo even further operations, including tubes in her ears and dental reconstruction. How much will these cost? That remains to be seen.

And if that wasn't enough, the family attempted to file for medicaid only to be told that they make $9 too much a year to qualify...Something seriously has to be done with health care in this country. But until then, we all must rely on each other and the generosity of strangers.

McKenna's story is not uncommon. One in every 500 babies born are diagnosed with a cleft lip and/or palate. We know that in these times of economic crisis and hardship that there are hundreds of stories like McKenna's, and it's easy to look away and say, "What can one person do? What will my contribution matter?" But hope starts one child at a time. And it makes all the difference in the world...please help bring hope to McKenna and her family.

Thanks for reading,

Dani