Jan 18, 2018 4 min read

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Senior

Malea Baxter, a Trinity senior, was born with a bilateral cleft lip and no palate. A fundraiser will be held Sunday to support her next surgery.

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Malea and brother, Kyle Roupe

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Deb McWreath taught her daughter, Malea Baxter, to be strong and to navigate life with a positive attitude.

“We didn’t ask for this, but we have to get through it,” McWreath said. “I’ve tried to make her a strong person so she doesn’t sit in a corner. She has a strong character.”

Malea, a senior at Trinity High School, was born with a bilateral cleft and no palate, meaning there was a separation of her upper lip on both sides and no roof of her mouth.

The Centers for Disease Control recently estimated that each year in the United States, about 2,650 babies are born with a cleft palate and 4,440 babies are born with a cleft lip, with or without a cleft palate.

At 17, Malea has undergone 13 surgeries to correct the condition and has four more ahead of her. Although the procedures – and sometimes the insensitivity of others – has been painful, Malea doesn’t dwell on the negative.

“When I was younger, I noticed (people’s reactions) more,” said Malea. “As I’ve gotten older, I know a bunch of people from different schools, and I’m more confident and outspoken.”

Her next surgery, which is scheduled in April, will be a graft in which a small section of Malea’s hip bone is removed and implanted in her face. An active teen – she has played softball, soccer and lacrosse and participated in U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and Abundant Life Baptist Church mission trips – Malea is concerned mostly about her mobility.

“It’s painful,” said Malea, who wants to study forensic science. “It’s hard to walk around for a couple of days. That’s the worst part.”

For McWreath, Malea’s last major surgery was the most difficult to endure.

In 2014, an apparatus was implanted that McWreath had to manipulate regularly to shift the bones in Malea’s face. The device, like an internal orthodontic headgear, made it impossible for her to bite or chew for five months. For the first few months, when her mom turned the prongs, Malea didn’t feel much, but toward the end, McWreath said it became excruciating.

“She has a high tolerance for pain, but she begged me, ‘Please, don’t do this.’ I would question if I was doing the right thing,” McWreath said.

The procedure changed Malea’s face, and the effect was traumatic for the 14-year-old.

“She cried when she saw herself in the mirror,” McWreath said.

The reaction of some people has been painful too, at times. One of the few instances Malea let it get to her, said McWreath, was when she was only about 5 years old, and a little girl in daycare told her she couldn’t play with her because she didn’t have a lip.

“That comes from the parent, not the kid,” said McWreath. “Any child that is a little bit different has had to go through this. But you don’t make it a crutch. When she was younger, a teacher asked if Malea would talk to the class and she did. Kids make fun of what they don’t understand. Malea has been instrumental in educating others. That’s what I’ve done, is try to make her a stronger person.”

Malea also has had to have extensive orthodontic work. Because she is missing six adult teeth, other teeth have been shifted to fill the gaps. And the roots of her teeth are short, meaning she will lose them eventually.

Malea will need implants, and insurance won’t cover it, said McWreath, who doesn’t want her daughter to have to deal with a temporary fix, like a retainer or bridge.

“She’s been through so much already,” McWreath said.

In order to help fund the costly surgeries, a spaghetti dinner fundraiser will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at American Legion Post 175, 168 Park Ave., Washington. The cost is $10 for adults, $6 for ages 5-10 and free for kids 4 and younger.

McWreath said that even if people can’t afford to help financially, she hopes they will keep Malea in their prayers. She and Malea have relied on their faith to get them through the difficult times.

“We get through with lots of God’s work and prayers,” McWreath said. “We hold onto our faith.”