What if you were a teen and couldn't use a cellphone or splash your picture around the internet? Would you feel left out, a social outcast, and perhaps isolate yourself from your peers? This happens with cleft lipped and palated youths who avoid phones because they speak "differently" and avoid circulating photos because they're ashamed of how they look. Communicative disorders & the Cleft Affected Teen Their speech difficulties may occur because surgeries and/or speech training … [Read more...]
Another Battle in the War between Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery: Plastic Surgery for Barbie game.
Tension between Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery How much lipo and how many boob jobs can highly-trained surgeons allow themselves to do? I tend to side with those who ask this guilt-inducing question. The notion being that so many people in the US, not just around the world, need the services of doctors who've completed 4 years of college, 4 years of med school, a year of internship, and years as surgical residents. Then, plastic surgery specialization tops off their training. Besides … [Read more...]
Characters during last part of Cleft Heart
SPOILER ALERT: You know the drill. The last of four Cleft Heart collages showcases key characters toward the end of the book. Top row from left: Ellen Nettle on SS Indochine. Janice Seldine and friend. Ellen and I in Singapore. Second row: Sketching at demonstration. Laura at Gayle's wedding. My wrist band for facial surgery. Bottom: Wedding day. Lincoln Memorial Rally 1967. Marching on the Pentagon. Simplified diagram of nasal cartilage manipulated during surgery. … [Read more...]
Roster of Players during Yale years of Cleft Heart
SPOILER: Do not linger here if you're the type of reader who likes to be surprised with every turn of the page. Return when you've finished the book. Likewise, if you enjoy fantasizing about how characters look, skip the photos. Key Characters at Yale in Cleft Heart Here are photos of the main players during the college years in my memoir. Clockwise from top left: Karl relaxing in Trumbull College suite at Yale (Ned in window seat). Star swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Steve … [Read more...]
A Photographic Who’s Who, part way into Cleft Heart
SPOILER ALERT : If you enjoy fantasizing how characters look in books or want to be surprised on every page, then don’t look at these photos until you’ve finished reading the second quarter of the book. Cleft Heart protagonist with sibs and friends. This photo collage shows me growing up and with my siblings and a few friends from my youth. Stay tuned for more collages in future blogs. … [Read more...]
Cleft Heart Characters from early chapters. . . and a Warning.
SPOILER ALERT: If you enjoy fantasizing how characters look in books or want to be surprised on every page, then don't look at these photos until you've finished reading the first quarter of the book. Otherwise, enjoy photos of my grandparents, parents, and me. Cleft Heart characters and "found" objects Intermixed with key characters are medical images: a hospital bill, a payment booklet, and a very simplified diagram of a lip and nostril repair. Hospital charges and my parents … [Read more...]
Great Gifts received this Season: Cleft Heart widely accepted.
The twelfth day of Christmas for Cleft Heart: On the twelfth day of Christmas, My Cleft Heart readers gave to me, Twelve members of LibraryThing who've added Cleft Heart to their To-Read lists. I mean, Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords-a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight pages of people (544 total) who've added Cleft Heart to their to-read list on the popular Goodreads site. I mean, Eight maids-a-milking Seven 5-Star reviews on … [Read more...]