Mon 31 Oct – Sun 6 Nov is Cleft Awareness Week in New Zealand. Each day during Cleft Awareness Week, I will share a post, interview or presentation about cleft lip and palate with you to help share some of the lesser known aspects of living with cleft!
The experiences of living with cleft panel was an opportunity for our panel featuring people with lived experience of cleft to share their observations and knowledge of what it is like to grow up with cleft. The panel discussed candidly some of their personal challenges, and discussed how despite having received good cleft care, cleft still impacts upon them in different ways, well into adulthood.
I thoroughly enjoy and welcome the opportunity to collaborate on projects with researchers, healthcare providers and NGOs around the world, and I regularly do! If you are interested in utilising my expertise for your research, project, or piece of work, please read this first.
Cleft-Palate Craniofacial Journal Invited Editorial. This article was first published in The Cleft-Palate Craniofacial Journal on 13 September 2021.
Face masks have become ubiquitous around the world and have made most people feel a bit uncomfortable or unusual. For me, they’ve given me a comfort I’ve never known before.
We’re living in extraordinary times, which can feel scary, frustrating, upsetting and tiring. It is easy to feel a bit hopeless and overwhelmed by the situation, but where we can, we should give ourselves a break from the media and do something fun. Although our first choices of fun may not be available to us right now, humans are known for our ability to improvise – the saying “dance like nobody is watching” has never been as poignant as it is now. Go on, get your groove on!
After an incredible two years living and working in London, I am leaving Britain with a heavy (and full) heart, but also looking forward to taking up new opportunities back in my adopted homeland.
As we approach the turn of the decade, for this year’s “Year in Review” blog, I look back on the last decade with 10 of my most poignant photos of the 2010s.
Well it’s been a number of years since I’ve run for anything other than a bus, plane or train, but this December once again I’m donning a Santa suit and heading back to East Sussex where my journey all began to support CLAPA.
In 2014, I don’t know about you, but I was feeling 22. However, far from the carefree attitude of Taylor Swift, I had a lot on my mind that year as it was the year of my jaw surgery, something that was never far from the front of my mind. At the same time, I was busy with my third year of Uni, working as the CEO of Cleft NZ, working in tech support at TalkLink, and doing my best to be a functional adult in the flatting world.
“Congratulations you have a boy! He has a bit of a harelip, but looks otherwise healthy.”
I can’t describe the shock that I felt then. This wasn’t how it was meant to be. None of the books or antenatal classes prepared us for this. My head was in a spin wondering what this meant for our future and our baby’s future. I knew what a ‘harelip’ was, but I’d never known anyone with the condition.
Last week marked the one year anniversary of my arrival to the UK. Now, one year on, I reflect back on the last 12 months living and working in London.
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