Dr. Rose Mary Stocks Performs Life-Changing Cleft Palate Surgery

UTHSC ENT Performs Cleft Palate Surgery

This year, our Pediatric ENT specialists opened a brand new Cleft Palate Clinic.

The clinic is a multidisciplinary collaboration with pediatric otolaryngology, speech language pathology, registered dietitians, audiology, and nursing. Focusing on the numerous feeding issues that newborns with cleft lip and cleft palate, our specialists look into infant weight gain, various bottle systems, flow rates and formula options.

Slayton’s Cleft Palate Success Story

Recently, our Pediatric Dream Team performed cleft palate surgery on a one year-old boy named Slayton. As his mother details, Slayton was born with “the widest palate” UTHSC ENT’s specialists had ever seen.

Luckily, Slayton’s procedures have been an overwhelming success! Morgan, Slayton’s mom, details:

“After 4 days in the hospital, he still wouldn’t take anything by mouth. We tried everything! On day 8, his entire team decided to put in an NG tube. Once again, something they have never had to do in 20-plus years of practice. Slayton was weak and pale. He had no energy to sit up or even smile. We were on day 10 in the hospital with strictly NG feedings, and I requested to go home. I needed my son to be in his own environment in his own bed. We have been home 3 days now, and he is finally starting to be himself. He has finally started smiling and laughing again. He is still strictly on NG feedings and is refusing anything by mouth. But we are going one step at a time. Slayton truly is a 1%, and I envy his strength. He has been through so much in this first year of his life. His story is different, but it’s ours. I’m so proud to be by his side through it all.”

Dr. Rose Mary Stocks & Our Cleft Team

By offering speech-language-pathology, a nurse practitioner and registered dietitian, audiology, and a social worker–and of course our renowned ENT specialists–our Cleft Palate Clinic is unique to the mid-south.

Simply put, UTHSC ENT is able to offer a level of specialized, comprehensive care unmatched int his region. As Dr. Stocks details:

“I performed his first surgery around November 2021 and completed his palate June 2022. I firmly believe that Slayton would not have survived had it not been for the multi-disciplinary cleft team we have assembled. I am so proud to be leading the Cleft Team as we gain certification. We have already made such huge improvements in our ability to holistically treat the patient and their family as we have established this team. I’m so proud of the work the team accomplishes every day and it’s fantastic for our LeBonheur team to get national recognition.”

How UTHSC ENT can help:

If your child has a cleft palate, we should be your first call! We’re thrilled to offer this life-changing cleft palate surgeries to children across the mid south, and we’d love to hear from you.