Don:  " This week, we saw a young boy of 5 years who travelled 48+ hours with his family to come to the hospital.  He was born with a bilateral cleft palate and lip but his parents were not aware, until most recently, that this significant problem could be rectified through surgery.  Typically, a young patient who requires both a cleft palate and lip repair will have those surgeries performed on two separate occasions.  But, we knew that the likelihood of this particular boy returning for a subsequent surgery would be slim given that his family lived in such a remote region that posed significant challenges for healthcare access.  We decided that the boy was old enough to be safe (clinically) to receive both surgeries at the same visit.  So, we proceeded with repairing his bilateral cleft palate and bilateral lip. This challenging operation took place over 4 hours ("skin to skin" - surgeon's time only - excludes anesthesia time) and has been our longest plastics surgical case to date!  This sweet boy is recovering well and will be able to return home soon to experience life in a new and improved way!