Time to Catch Up!

Wow - It's been too long since I've written. I'm now home from an inspiring adventure, but let's see if I can recap from Thursday morning when I met the craniofacial team at the St. Louis Cleft-Craniofacial Center at Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center.  

Thursday Morning: 

 

 I pull into Cardinal Glennon with barely a minute to spare and was pleasantly surprised by the small size and the free parking; very low key and suburban feeling right in the middle of St. Louis. I parked my bike and filled my helmet with FACES brochures, blog cards, and business cards and headed up to meet the team who had generously set aside time out of their busy morning to meet with me. [Inspirational eye and photo by Ashley Wiehle]

Clinical Nurse Coordinator Debbie Watters, met me in the waiting room and ushered me in to meet the team as they started arriving. I was quickly introduced to Plastic Surgeon and Team Director Dr. Lin, who was young, charming and easy going, and I can see him having a wonderful way with his young patients. I also met speech therapist Loretta Laurent, occupational therapist Sue Stuppy, dentist Jim Klarsch, audiologist Sarah Duncan, and public relations Ashley Wiehle who had her camera ready! [Thanks Ashley for taking photos with my camera for me!] The whole team is friendly and good natured and I was put immediately at ease.

I learned that the entire team [approximately 20 professionals] was not always there together, and often rotated or were on call for when needed. The team meets three times a month at Cardinal Glennon, so their waiting room is always full and they work hard to give each patient the time and care they need.  
I learned a lot talking with this great group of people. For instance, Dr. Lin brought up speech therapy and how important it is in a child's world where they're not only judged by their looks, but by their speech as well. Just as people with facial differences are assumed to be less than intelligent when they are certainly not, nasal and unclear speech can also lead to thinking that they are mentally challenged, and they are not!  

Thank you Cleft-Craniofacial Team for taking the time to meet with me! I learned a lot and it's nice to know the professionals that FACES' clients see are so warm and caring!