Chapter 5.2 - An Encounter in the Snow (Part 1)
Ai Jingchu nodded, “So since it's a cousin and not an immediate family member, I won't let them participate in our conversation, okay? ”This is the only question he used all morning to solicit the opponent's opinion.
“Yes. ”The cousin said nervously.
“The test results you showed me before are not wrong, but I checked with Dr. Wang. It may be that because of the angle of the fetus last time, I did not see the upper palate clearly. The fetus has not only has a cleft lip but also a cleft palate. ”
When the cousin heard this, although she had prepared her heart a long time ago, the tears that had just dried were wet again, “Doctor, you may not know how difficult it is for me to conceive this child. I had children less than a year after I got married. At that time, my husband and I felt that we hadn't had time to enjoy the two-person world. How could we have a child to drag ourselves down first? So it was aborted without hesitation. At that time, I didn't tell my family that I was pregnant, I was sitting on the bus on the day when I knew about it and I kept complaining about how God made me so unlucky. ”
The cousin wiped away her tears and said, "Later down the road when I saw that my age was over 30, and my classmates and friends had children, so I started to think about it. But how would I have known that I couldn't conceive no matter what? We both visited all the hospitals and thought about all the methods, but there was no news for more than a year. Later, I thought, did God come to give me my retribution? Did the child I gave up come back to punish me? Now when I went through so much to have a child, it's been half a year, but... you said...”
In the end, the cousin was choked with sobs.
Ai Jingchu looked at her quietly.
The cousin finally felt that she was a little gaffe in front of the doctor, so she endured it, stopped sobbing, and asked, “Dr. Ai, do you think the child is really serious? What should we do? If a child is born, it will be cured, right? I can't bear to not have this child, please treat him! ”
Ai Jingchu said, “In the end, you need to discuss with your family and decide how to make the trade-off. The obstetrician may have told you before about the risks and consequences of induced labour. Then I am going to tell you now if you want this child, what psychological preparations you must have. ”
The cousin nodded and waited for what he said later.
“If the fetus has cleft lip and palate, then he will go to the orthodontics department for a preoperative orthodontic within two months of being born. We will take a model for alveolar shaping and wear braces. At three months, the child will have lip repair surgery, and after half a year, he will have palate shaping surgery. After that, speech correction is required until preschool age, because the child's body is constantly developing and growing, so it is not ruled out that there will be secondary deformities after successful surgery. Once there is a structural disorder in pronunciation or other aspects, you need to go to oral and maxillofacial surgery for a second repair. Around the age of twelve, he will undergo another cosmetic surgery. The last operation for nasolabial and palate repair will be before and after the age of eighteen. During this period, whether the child has deciduous teeth or permanent teeth, the orthodontist needs to observe, monitor and treat the growth and development of the teeth and alveoli. ”
He tried his best to organize the language as easy to understand, and after hearing the repeated operations, the cousin forgot to cry or ask questions, but just widened her eyes.
Ai Jingchu said calmly: "This is currently the most authoritative cleft lip and palate repair procedure in the world. The whole process requires the full participation of cosmetic doctors, maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, and even psychologists. Not to mention the pressure on children, it is also a huge responsibility for parents. There have been several operations before and after, and the treatment time is close to 20 years. Once this child is born, parents have an inescapable responsibility for this life. They should do their best to love him and take care of him, rather than saying that if the child has something that makes the parents feel dissatisfied, they will give up on him, or treat him casually, and regret it when their patience is exhausted. ”
Ai Jingchu didn't remember how many times he had said these words to others. The parents who came to consult him, many of them had vowed to do so, but they were discouraged when they heard it. Some people feel that they can't bear the burden, while others feel that it is too unfortunate for their children to grow up like this.
He explained again and again without subjective emotions, not to persuade people to give up, nor to give people hope, but to feel that parents who know that their children are flawed and have to be born, should not be impulsive because of temporary love, bring a lifelong shadow to their children.
He has treated many children with cleft lips and palates. Many of them were sent from welfare homes around the world. Some were abandoned before the full moon, and others were abandoned by their families after a short period of treatment at the age of three or four.
In fact, the fact that they were abandoned by their mothers may have a much greater impact on them in their future lives than the deformity of cleft lip and palate.
After Ai Jingchu said this, the cousin fell silent.
Ai Jingchu stood up and said, “You can go back and discuss it with your family. ” He knows that sometimes it is difficult to make decisions, and there are many objective factors that affect the family members, so he doesn't want Mu Cheng and his wife to be present.
Before leaving, the cousin said to Ai Jingchu, “Dr. Ai, can I contact you again if I have any questions? ”
Ai Jingchu agreed: “Teacher Mu has my number, you can call me. ”
