Parents Grateful for Cleft Team, Donor Support

A letter from grateful parents of a patient:

As most parents do, we want the best for our child(ren). Upon finding out that our son would be born with rare skin condition that includes a cleft palate and cleft lip, we met with the Craniofacial and Cleft Team at U of R, and felt immediately that this was the right group of people for our family because of the level of sincerity, knowledge, and experience the group comprised.

Shortly after Sawyer's birth, we made two special commitments that would help ensure he is provided with the care he deserves. We decided that a) we needed to extend maternity leave from several weeks to several months and b) we would make the weekly, four-hour-total drive to Rochester during those several months to be able to collaborate with the highly-regarded team at Eastman Dental. We knew that doing these two things at the same time would be challenging in several ways, but we knew we could do it. And we did. But we didn't do this on our own. We were graciously surprised and blessed to receive support from the Rauscher family and the KMR Fund. Having newly transitioned to a single-income family, the assistance eased our financial concerns and allowed my wife to remain committed to the weekly trips while I worked to retain steady income and health insurance.

To bring us to present, the trips, the NAM device, and Sawyer's dedicated doctor team collectively proved positively effective as last week, he had a successful cleft lip surgery. We are truly grateful for our experience and relationships with the Craniofacial and Cleft Team at U of R. Sawyer has led us to many kind, caring, and selfless people, and the Rauscher family is a perfect example of this.

Sincerely,

Neil, Valerie, and Sawyer Folnsbee