Jacob Welker
Welker Family Letter
As everyone knows, the birth of a child brings with it excitement and anticipation. This pregnancy had mirrored the first one. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on August 18, 1994, Jacob arrived at the hospital in Great Bend, Kansas. I knew as he was being delivered that something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. The obstetrician told us that there was a birth defect. Denise, my wife, and I would later learn that he was bilateral cleft lip and palate (CL/CP). Fortunately for us, the hospital had experienced a CL/CP in the last year, so they knew what to do. They were prepared to feed him and had a hospital vice-president and his wife, who had a daughter born CL/CP sixteen years earlier, come to visit us that evening. The next day their daughter came to visit us. They brought a message of hope.
We began the arduous task of finding a doctor. We settled on a doctor in Wichita, KS. We did the usual surgeries during the first year. Each year, we attended the clinic and visited numerous doctors and specialists. Each year, the answer was the same, “Wait.” As Jacob got older, his sister, Denise, who was 3 ½ years his elder, would come to us and say, “Those people are talking about Jacob.” We would talk to her and explain the situation. Then, Jacob started coming to us saying, “Those people are talking about me.” That’s when we knew we had to do something else.
In April 1999, Denise was watching the Oprah Winfrey show. One of the segments that day featured Dr. Hubli, an associate of Dr. Salyer, showing the work that they do. They showed pictures of children and some of them resembled Jacob. She got on the internet to learn more about Dr. Salyer and his work.
We contacted Dr. Salyer’s office and they gave us two choices: make the six hour trip to Dallas for a personal visit or take pictures of Jacob and Dr. Salyer would write us back with an opinion. We opted for the pictures and waited for the written response. The written response never came because the office called and said Dr. Salyer wanted to see us immediately. In May 1999, we made the first of what have now been over 30 trips to Dallas.
Jacob’s first surgery with Dr. Salyer was in July 1999. What was supposed to be a 1 ½ hour surgery ended up being 3 hours. Why? Dr. Salyer’s drive for perfection and desire to do as much as possible in one surgery allowed him to accomplish more than was originally planned. As strange as it might seem, the surgery was bittersweet. With no surgeries for over three years, we had grown accustomed to Jacob’s appearance and now it had changed drastically.
We’ve met many wonderful people over the years in Dallas. The nurses in the pediatrics unit have gone above and beyond the call of duty. What we have noticed over the years in our conversation with parents of all children with special needs is the desire to raise them to be as “normal” as possible. Surgeries are scheduled around summer ball for the older children, etc. Jacob played ball one summer after having surgery in April. He had to wear a helmet with a face mask while batting and playing in the field to prevent a ball from hitting him in the mouth.
Do we wish we had known about Dr. Salyer’s group in August 1999? Absolutely. However, we’re just glad we found them when we did.
Jeff Welker
