While Kimberly was pregnant, she received news that no mom wants to hear. Her unborn son had a cleft lip and palate. Immediately, the fears started sweeping in. How would this affect his development? What would surgery look like for this? Would he be in pain? Would he ever be able to recover?
As moms our hearts break thinking about how Kimberly must have been feeling. There’s nothing harder than seeing your child in pain. To make matters even more challenging, Kimberly developed preeclampsia and had to give birth at 28 weeks. When sweet baby Jasiah arrived, he was stable, but had many challenges ahead of him.
With all the chaos of appointments and procedures, Kimberly’s one lifeline was meeting Dr. Jordan Steinberg, who is a pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgeon serving as Surgical Director of the Craniofacial Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
The Nicklaus team was able to surround Jasiah and ensure he had the best care. He was supported by specialists in plastic surgery, ENT, genetics, orthodontics, audiology, speech therapy, psychology, rehabilitation, dental care, and social work. While Kimberly still worried, she was assured that Jasiah was in the best possible hands.
To fast forward, Jasiah had a major surgery to repair his cleft lip, followed by a surgery to repair his cleft palate. It was so challenging for Kimberly to see Jasiah in pain without him understanding why or what was going on. However, the end result was so encouraging.
Through the success of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital team, the surgeries were successful and Jasiah is thriving! It’s such a gift to hear about how Kimberly persevered through pain and struggles and to now see her beautiful boy with a smile on his face.
To read more stories like Jasiah’s of how Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is changing the lives of children, head to https://www.nicklauschildrens.org/medical-services/craniofacial-center.
