Before Pictures

Rachel's profile will change pretty drastically with this surgery. Therefore we wanted to take some "before surgery pictures". These pictures were taken last week. 

Looking straight on, we don't think there will be much difference, however, maybe we could see a change in her nose perkiness. It will be hard to tell exactly what will look different until all the swelling subsides, which Dr. Martin says could take up to 6 months.

Where we will notice the biggest difference in Rachel's facial appearance is her side profiles. In each of these pictures, you can clearly see that Rachel's lower jaw extends out much further than her upper jaw. 

In people who were born with clefts, the middle of their faces don't grow completely, therefore Rachel's upper jaw does not match her lower jaw. This surgery is going to correct this. 

Rachel's excited to have this surgery done. As she's gotten older, she dislikes how much her chin sticks out, some of it is due to her cleft and her upper jaw not having grown, the other part is simply genetics - she has her fathers pointy chin, it runs in the family! 

Surgery is a Go!

Rachel is scheduled to have her jaw surgery on June 20, 2023. 

We have had this date for 6 months. 

Ten days ago, the surgery scheduler called to tell me that our insurance company had denied approval as it was deemed "not medically necessary". Additional records, measurements, scans, pictures, etc, were submitted. Appeals filed. Another prior authorization submitted. 

We moved forward in trusting the Lord and having faith that all this would work out and we would receive insurance approval. 

Rachel had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Garcia on Wednesday. And she had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Martin this morning, as well as a Pre Admitting Appointment where they went over all of her medical history and took blood. 

Long story short, we received word this afternoon that our insurance has re-reviewed Rachel's records and this surgery is indeed medically necessary, and they have given the approval for surgery!! 

Surgery is a go! And it's happening this Tuesday!! Thank You Lord!

A Day of Appointments

Today was a very full day of appointments. Rachel and I left the house about 7:30 and did not get home until 5:00pm!!

First appointment was with our dentist, Dr. Hoffer, for a crown on a tooth that is transposed in her mouth and was going to impact her new jaw alignment based on molds that had been taken. The crown took just over 2 1/2 hours, but when it was all said and done, Dr Hoffer did an amazing job on the crown and it should work out perfectly.  

SideNote: I absolutely love our dentist!! He's gentle, kind, very knowledgable, and up to date on the latest and greatest dental techniques. His wife is a pediatric dentist whom the girls went to for many years! 

After her crown was down, she switched chairs and had a routine cleaning. After almost 4 hours at the dentist office, it was lunch at Chick Fil A, and a trip into Home Goods and Walmart. 

Next appointment was out in Beaumont, with Dr Carter, Rachel's orthodontist. Thankfully they have a CT Scan machine in office that takes the scans that Dr Martin needs for planning out surgery. So new CT scans, new molds, a new bracket on the crowned tooth, and new wires and rubber bands. 

Everything is stabilized for no additional movement prior to surgery and we won't see the Orthodontist again until the week before surgery. 

A trip through the McDonalds drive thru for a McFlurry and then on the road home. Getting home just before 5:00pm. It was a very long day. Rachel's  mouth is sore. But everything was necessary to keep on track with surgery in a month. 

CT Scans

 I received the results of Rachel's CT Scans she had earlier in the week. It's interesting to see all the measurements and recommendations for the jaw alignment. Even more interesting to see her actual scans. 

Preparing for Surgery

For months, we have been on a very rigid and strict timeline in making sure Rachel's surgery stays on track for Mid June. Lining up orthodontist and plastic surgeon appointments when she's home on break or long weekend has been very challenging. Today was no different, we had two appointments this morning in anticipation of Rachel's surgery next month. 

The morning started out with a maxillofacial CT Scan at Loma Linda. Dr Martin will use these scans to digitally align and plan out her jaw alignment. This was a quick appointment. Rachel was actually in and out before her appointment time! 

Next appointment this morning was with Dr. Garcia, the orthodontist. This appointment kind of knocked the wind out of sails. 

Turns out Rachel needs a crown on a tooth that in a previous mold, would interfere with her new jaw alignment. No one had called and told us that in the last five weeks since her last Ortho visit. 

Dr. Garcia removed the bracket from the tooth in question in hopes we could get an appointment for a crown. Once we get the crown, all new CT scans will need to be taken, as well as new molds. This mornings scans she had are invalid at this point. 

We stopped by our dentist's office on our way home to talk to the scheduler in person about the urgency of getting an appointment for a crown. Our dentist is currently out of town, but we were able to get an appointment for 2 weeks from now. Which works out perfectly for us, as we leave for a week at WDW early tomorrow morning.

 

Freshman Year of College - FINSIHED!

We did a turn around trip to Phoenix today to move Rachel's big things into storage for the summer and then bring her home for the next 4 months. 

It's hard to believe her Freshman year is done. That year went by quickly! She had a very successful year, becoming independent and maneuvering through difficult roommate situations and landed herself on the Dean's list with straight A's. She has two weeks break and then online summer courses begin!

Orthodontist Appointment

It is extremely hard to get Orthodontist appointments coordinated with the times that Rachel is home from college. Rachel hadn't been seen since the days leading up to her leaving for college. 

We were fortunate enough to have an appointment this morning, which worked out well with Rachel heading back to college tomorrow morning.

New molds were taken. New wires were attached and and new rubber bands were placed. We are moving forward in anticipation of her June Surgery. 

Next Ortho Appointment will be when she's home on Spring Break in March. 

Surgery is Scheduled!

Rachel had an appointment with Dr. Martin today. It was pretty much an appointment to keep us from falling through the cracks and on target for a summer surgery. 

Well, Rachel's on target and surgery has been scheduled!  

Rachel will be having her next surgery on June 21, 2023!!

This surgery will be her 5th surgery related to her birth defect. It will also be her biggest surgery, as Dr. Martin will move and realign her upper jaw and line up her lower jaw. 

Off to College and Turning 18!

Rachel's wanted to go to Grand Canyon University ever since her older sister started attending there! She's been looking forward to this adventure for the last several months!

There are advantages to going to the same school your older sister just graduated from - aside from knowing your way around the campus, the majority of Hannah's apartment belongings were passed on - a couch, entertainment center, television, dishes, pots and pans, and a lot of other things that make setting up a bedroom at college nice and comfortable.

We spent two days moving Rachel in to her apartment on campus, getting her room all set up, and doing odds and ends the next day, out to breakfast for her birthday, grocery shopping, final tweaks needed on electronics from Dad, etc. 

We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants for her 18th birthday. As hard as we tried to be in celebratory moods, it was difficult  as we knew when dinner was over, we'd be taking her back to the campus and saying our goodbyes. 

We are so very proud of her decision to go away to college and have that experience. Looking forward to all the Lord has in store for her in this new adventure! 

Appointment with Dr. Martin

Rachel's been in her second set of braces for almost 2 years (coming up this month!) in anticipation of getting things moved and in position for her next big surgery, which we knew would be around the time she was 17-18 or there about depending on her facial growth. 

Today, we saw Dr. Martin, Rachel's plastic surgeon. We saw him last in November 2019, where he sent us back to Dr. Garcia, her orthodontist for baseline X-rays and a return appointment for 6 months later. We had an appointment scheduled to see Dr. Martin in May 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID outbreak and was never rescheduled.

Here it is, a little over 2 years after we were supposed to return. It was a good appointment. Good to touch base and have her looked at. 

Rachel is where she should be (growth wise) for moving forward with surgery. Dr. Martin thinks just by looking at her, and her bite, that he might be able to get away with just repositioning her upper jaw, and not the top AND bottom as some cleft kids have. Of course he won't know for sure until he gets CT Scans and puts it all into the computer for graphing and calculating. But overall this was great news!!

The problem - Rachel leaves for college in 8 weeks. There is no way Dr. Martin can get her on the surgery schedule and done and recovered in 8 weeks. So our hope/plan is to have surgery next May/June when Rachel is home for summer after her first year away at college. We just need to check with Dr. Garcia to make sure it's okay she sits in braces for another 11 months until then. 

Profile pictures were taken today for her medical records. We have a video appointment in a couple of weeks with Dr. Martin after he checks in with Dr. Garcia. 

World Traveler

Rachel has always had this fascination with England (I blame the likes of Paddington Bear and in more recent years, Downtown Abbey). So when the opportunity arose that a tour to Ireland, Scotland,  and England was announced at school, we jumped on board and signed her up! 

The trip is organized through Education First, Hannah took a similar trip with this company in her Junior Year and had an amazing time. There are some teachers at school who want to instill in kids the love of travel and seeing new things. 

This particular trip, we signed up and committed to in December 2020. Because of COVID, we really weren't sure if the trip would happen, what restrictions there might be, etc. But it happened! And there were no restrictions! And Rachel had an amazing time! 

She was gone June 8-17th. There was one teacher and six girls from our school. Once they arrived in Ireland, they joined a few other groups that would be their travel family for the 10 day tour. 

They started off in Dublin, Ireland, and traveling North to Belfast and Derry. In Ireland she saw such things as Trinity College, St. Patricks Cathedral, visited the Titanic Museum, Giants Causeway. 

On the shores of Northern Ireland

From Northern Ireland, they took a ferry across to Scotland. Rachel was excited to visit the land of her ancestors and look for things with our last name. Unfortunately, due to the popular show Outlander, a lot of "Fraser" merchandise was out of stock. In Scotland, Rachel toured Edinburgh Castle

 

In the land of Scotland

From Edinburgh, Scotland, Rachel boarded a train that took them to London, England! This was the part of the trip she was most excited about! Unfortunately, traffic and delays didn't allow them to see some things they were supposed to (Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Picadilly Circus), but she splurged with an add on tour and got to go to Windsor Castle! Even more exciting that the Queen was home this particular day! Rachel's always had a fascination with Beefeaters, we were beyond thrilled for her when we received a picture of her standing with one! 

She had an amazing time on this trip. Saw so many great things. Learned so much. Before she was even home, she was talking about all the things she'd like to see someday when she can go back! We're grateful she had this opportunity and that she absolutely loved it! 

Major Life Events

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Rachel’s blog. Aside from regular appointments with Dr Garcia, our orthodontist, things have been fairly quiet in regards to her Cleft Journey. We have an upcoming appointment with Rachel’s Plastic Surgeon in a few weeks, I’ll update in regards to that after we see him. 

But as far as life goes, Rachel got her Drivers License last November, and has taken possession of our minivan as her way of transportation. We are trying to find her a used car, as she will need a car when she goes off to college the end of August. But the used car market is outrageous these days. 

The biggest life event to happen is that Rachel graduated from High School on June 1st! 

The last couple of years have been weird ones due to COVID. Rachel finished off her Sophomore year in Distance Learning, and did her ENTIRE Junior Year of High School in Distance Learning. Needless to say, she was very happy when in person school resumed in August for her Senior Year. Despite the obstacles of distance learning, she graduated in the Top 20 of her class!! 

The week before Graduation, Rachel got to go back to where it all started, her Elementary School.

June 1, 2022 Graduation of Grand Terrace High School's Class of 2022

A few days after Graduation, we hosted a party in Rachel's honor in our backyard. We had close to 80 family and friends come to help celebrated. My brother and sister in law and nieces who live in Texas came all the way to surprise Rachel!  It was a great party and we are so blessed by the love and support of so many who came. 

Rachel plans to follow in her sisters footsteps and attend Grand Canyon University in the Fall. She has already committed and is very much excited for the new adventure that lays ahead of her. She plans to study early childhood education and become a preschool teacher. 

Needless to say, we as her parents are very proud of her and all her accomplishments and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store next for Rachel. 

Online Cleft Convention

Things are pretty quiet surrounding Rachel's Journey. It's hard to believe, but this last week marked 11 years since her bone graft surgery!! 

Rachel still has braces on, and see's the orthodontist every 6-8 weeks. And we are anticipating her next big surgery perhaps next summer. 

I follow a few different Cleft organizations on social media and recently came across information for a Cleft Convention. Where it was to bring together people of all sorts of ages and backgrounds who were affected by a cleft of some sort. I asked Rachel if she was interested in attending and she was! 

Today was the online Cleft Convention hosted by Smile Train. We received a box in the mail yesterday of all kinds of swag - a shirt for her and a shirt for me, a note pad, an insulated tumbler, a charging pad, stickers, a pen, and a little bag of art supplies for a project they would complete during the convention.

The convention was most of the day and it included speakers of all ages. And different sessions Rachel could attend based on the subject, etc. 

There were kids/people with all sorts of varying clefts - unilateral, bilateral, just the lip, the lip and the palate, the lip, the palate, and the alveolar ridge(which is what Rachel had). Kids with years of speech therapy, kids with more surgeries than Rachel. There was so much information! There was even a little segment on dogs who'd been born with clefts!!

This is what Rachel had to say about the convention in her own words, shared with her permission:

"My first ever Cleft Con was a huge success! I learned so much and heard so many amazing stories from cleft affected people. This virtual conference helped me find new ways to tell my story and help spread awareness of cleft lips and cleft palates. Looking forward to meeting more cleft affected people and hear their stories.

Every smile has a story!"

I'm so thankful for having found this opportunity for Rachel to attend and to learn how to help spread awareness in her own way. 

Keeping this blog for the last 17 years has been my way of spreading awareness, keeping family informed in those early years when it was a very active season in this journey. But I'm glad Rachel is finding her own voice, and her own way to share with others this journey the Lord gave to her. 

Back to the Orthodontist

Rachel had her second appointment this morning to finish off the starting of Phase II.

They replaced a couple of brackets and put bands on her back teeth. The wire was also put through the top braces.

Her next appointment isn't until mid October, but I have a feeling we will be back before then due to a loose bracket or poking wire. 

Let Phase II Begin!

Today Rachel officially began Phase II of braces. Because of the CoviD pandemic, she had to go in alone as I waited in the car.

We thought she was just getting spacers today, but when she came out to the car, she had brackets on, and wire on all the bottom teeth. This is the first time she's had bottom braces! She was already feeling the discomfort when she came to the car.

This Xray was taken last month (June 2020). If you look closely, on the top, you can see the left side, Rachel has two transposed teeth 3 & 4. They plan on leaving them. It'd be too painful to try and move those teeth around into their proper places.

This Xray was taken in 2011. Rachel was 7 years old when this Xray was taken.  A lot of growth, and 3 years of top braces. Interesting and encouraging to see how much change has been made. 

Rachel sees our dentist on Monday to take care of filling on the back of one of her teeth, and then we return to the Orthodontist next Wednesday to finish off the start up of this second set of braces.