I have been following a teenage girl's journey through the final jaw surgeries and reconstruction with Dr. Gordon in Cincinnati who is also Faith's surgeon. It has been a very long and hard journey and early on, Katie's parents, Pam and Glenn, and I talked about how Faith had to go back into surgery almost weekly with Dr. Gordon when she had her jaw distraction because they had some concerns about things not starting off too well for Katie. It was great that I could give them any assurance about how much I trust Dr. Gordon, considering what they have given me by sharing Katie's progress this summer.
They posted a before and after picture last night that is just amazing - http://wiksnap.blogspot.com/2011/09/before-and-after.html I'll be honest, I cried many times reading their blog and seeing what she was going through, it was a very long and very tough time. They first arrived in Cincinnati at the end of May and spent most of the summer there and had to go back after only being home (Utah) for a couple of weeks. I think they still have a few more weeks ahead of them as Katie's jaw is still wired shut.
Faith's final surgery when she is a teenager will probably be similar to this with the RED device and it is great to see how amazing the results can be. It makes me so happy that we found Dr. Gordon. Truly it wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the internet, the Treacher Collins' Yahoo group who Katie's dad, Glenn, is the owner of, and for Judy Mosher, the head of the Treacher Collins Connection group, who Fred's sister Margaret contacted when I was still pregnant and they thought Faith had Treacher Collins. At one point during our search for a surgeon it was Judy who urged me to talk to Dr. Gordon to see what he thought. Can you see what a tangled web of connected lives we live? Not to mention that after following that long web to get to Dr. Gordon, we discovered weeks later that we went to the same high school - Fort Hunt HS in Alexandria VA!!
Hopefully we will be planning Faith's second jaw distraction for this coming summer. I'm looking forward to seeing Dr. Gordon again. I have a feeling that he will have some new ideas for Faith's jaw after spending month's working on Katie's. Thank you again Katie, Glenn and Pam for sharing her journey with us.
