Real Life StoriesConfessions of A Brother :By Someone's BrotherThey say children are curious beings and that they would ask the most random questions out of their curiosity. Well, I still remember some of my friends asking me about my brother. They would be like “eh, what’s wrong with your brother? How come his lips are like that?” or “eh, how come your brother’s lips got lubang one?”
And me, being a small kid and not knowing better, I would tell them white lies such as “oh, when he was born, doctor accidentally pulled his lips too hard so terkoyak,” or “doctor tu tak bagus. Dia tak pandai nak lahirkan baby.” It even went to the extent that I would somehow manage to convince my friends that some doctors are evil because they don’t know how to deliver a child properly. And for 7 or 8 year olds, those sorts of answer were acceptable as we were still young and naïve.
But as I grow older, I began to understand why my brother’s lips were “koyak” and why sometimes food and fluids would come out from his nose. I realised that the condition of his lip and palate are actually because of a medical condition, and not because of some third rate doctor whom doesn’t know how to deliver babies properly. And having realised this, I took it upon myself to take better care of my brother and inform others properly. No more “doctors koyakkan my bro’s lips and unqualified doctors” stories anymore. And I am no longer afraid of sharing the world about cleft because I know that everyone was born with a heart that smiles. In fact, I believe that individuals born with cleft are more cheerful in life than others because they get to share their smile specially to the world.
Nurul Nabilah bte Abdul Malik
Assalamualaikum...
Nama saya Nurul Nabilah Bte Abd Malek.
Umur saya 7 tahun. Cita-cita saya dah besar nak jadi polis.
Hobi saya main basikal
Saya sekolah perempuan durian daun Melaka.
Guru saya sangat baik.
Kawan-kawan saya ada yang baik dan ada juga yang jahat ejek-ejek tak nak kawan saya, sebab saya murid istimewa. Saya sangat sedih.
Ibu, bapa, kakak dan semua keluarga sangat sayang pada saya.
Saya selalu pergi Hospital PPUM nak buat mata hidung mulut untuk saya jadi cantik. Bila saya dah cantik, saya gembira.
Daripada: Nurul Nabilah Bte Abd Malek
Assalamualaikum... My name is Nurul Nabilah Bte Abd Malek. I am 7 years old. My ambition is to become police. My hobby is cycling. I go to Durian Daun Melaka girls' school. My teacher is very nice. Some of my friends are nice, others are bad, making fun of me and do not want to be friends because I am special. I am sad. My mother, father, older sister and all of my family love me very much. I always go to PPUM Hospital to make my eyes nose mouth to make me pretty. When I am pretty, I am happy. From: Nurul Nabilah Bte Abdul MalekGiving Kharyna the Best By Kassim & Liza, Parents to KharynaUpon Kharyna’s birth two years ago, we were shocked at first. We had little idea about cleft and had to immediately trawl through the Internet for information, to find out about cleft lip and palate, specifically about what to do post-birth and the process of getting treatment.
We first went to a government hospital but found out that we had to wait six months for our first appointment. Then, a friend recommended for us to go to a private hospital. The doctor we met there suggested immediate surgery. After the first operation, within a week, the wound broke down, causing a puncture in Kharyna’s nose and on her upper lip. This made consumption of food and liquid extremely difficult as liquid would spill out from the holes in the wound.
Following that, we made many trips back and forth to hospitals to follow up and change the wound every day. After about six to eight months, the doctor conducted the second surgery in February 2009.
The biggest challenge for us parents has been to try give to her the best medical attention possible, getting her to be treated by the best doctors and hopefully improve her condition.
Kharyna is now two. My biggest worry remains that society has a tendency of looking down on children with cleft. We will continue to try give her the best treatment possible. CLAPAM has been very helpful as they offer plenty of resources. We would recommend parents who have children with cleft to register with CLAPAM as in addition to resources for parents, they also offer activities for kids.
August 2009
Nur Nadiah RamliThats right, me. I was born with a dental problem. It was not noticeable at first until my upper front teeth was moving until it got real bad when I was 10 at 10mm gap with my lower front teeth.All my classmates teased me and called me '
jongang' and I remembered my early years filled with tears at night because of the teasings.I was scarred until today because of this early social experience. To add salt to the wound, I was dark, fat and homely. Finally the day came when my parents took me to an orthodontist, Dr. Nora in Subang. I went through several scans and she told us my case was special, in which my upper front teeth will keep moving until I had to go for surgery without braces. When I was 11, I had my braces and after all the years of painful treatments and teasings, I am now how you guys see me. Not a beauty but at least I am normal.The whole braces procedure cost us RM 7000. Not inclusive of treatments and such.
So you see, I was lucky because my parents are able to afford such an amount of money. Maybe they scrimp and save, but they managed to raise that much. Some people are not so lucky. To hide such great personalities and hearts behind the mask of dental problems is such a heart-wrenching fate. I know a beautiful heart shines through it all, but we all know people have a cruel way of looking at everything in face value and when we have the power to make a cleft lip born person smile in such a beautiful way, will we deny them the smile that we will look at and be proud to have a hand in creating it ? Think about it. I will not wish what I experienced on my worst enemy.
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