Elsa’s life did not start out conventionally. Born at an orphanage in China, with a cleft lip and palate making it impossible for her to talk, the little girl’s life was complicated. But at four and a half, things took a turn for the better for Elsa, when she was adopted and brought to Canada, where a happier journey could begin.
Most likely the result of a lack of nutrition or an environmental factor during pregnancy, Elsa’s condition is isolated to her cleft lip and palate, but due to her environment in her early developmental stages, her growth and overall development were delayed. For every month that a child spends in an orphanage setting, they are delayed at least three months in their development.
A cleft palate prevents the oxygen flow between the throat and the nose, which doesn’t allow for sounds or words to be made.
When a baby is born with a cleft lip and palate it is normally treated between six and 12 months of age, but because of Elsa’s situation at birth her palate was never repaired in China.
When Elsa was 22 months old, a charity in China paid for her to have her lip repaired, a surgery that is usually performed at three months of age.
Delayed repairs are complicated, both for the doctors and for the child, and can result in a shorter palate and delay speech, but with the help of her adoptive parents and the Shriners of Langley, Elsa is on her way to a full repair.
Diane and Scott Macrosson are a Langley couple who began their adoption journey four years before they met Elsa, but on May 5, 2009 they received the referral for Elsa’s adoption. For five months they communicated with the orphanage in China while they waited to meet their daughter. On Sept. 15, 2009 the Macrossons made the trip to China, where they met Elsa and spent two weeks there with the four-year-old, before bringing her home.
Seven months after arriving in Canada in September 2009, and weighing only 26 pounds, Elsa received her first palate repair at B.C.’s Children’s Hospital.
With the first repair, Elsa’s palate is quite short and she was going to have to wait to see the palate team at Children’s again. After the repair, the family was told that Elsa may not speak at all, but Diane and Scott were not ready to give up on the potential they saw in Elsa.
“With our medical system we met some wonderful people, who have been fantastic, but we were always on waiting (lists).”
It was around that time, in April 2011, when Elsa and Diane were in Costco that they had a chance meeting with Ken Lein, a member of the Langley Shriners.
The Shriners are an international fraternal organization that offers surgical and medical treatment to children who need it. Currently they run 21 hospitals in the U.S. and one in Canada.
He told them about the Shriners Hospital for Children and connected them with Bob Irving, president of the Langley Shriners club.
Diane made her first call to Irving and the next day he was on the family’s doorstep to meet Elsa and to help them get her an appointment at the Shiners Hospital for Children in Portland, Ore.
“Any child is eligible for care at the Shriners hospital,” said Irving. All care received through the Shriners Hospitals is paid for in full by the Shriners, including the trips on their buses to take the children to the hospital and all of their appointments.
Elsa and Diane made their first trip down to Portland on May 10 to meet with the doctors and make a plan for her care. They will see her a minimum of once every six months until she turns 18.
“They saw her not just as a five-year-old child whose speech wasn’t developing, but they said, ‘You know what, she’s lived in an orphanage for the first four years of her life,’ “ Diane said.
“There’s a personal connection there.”
“Hospitals in Canada do what they can,” said Irving. “We’re just filling the breach.”
Though she currently has very little language, Elsa has a lot to say and is an excellent communicator. She has some knowledge of traditional sign language and has used her six-year-old creativity to make up her own signs, like when she puts the tips of her fingers together with her palms apart to form the shape of her favourite treat, White Spot Pirate Packs.
An important learning tool for Elsa at this stage is her iPad, which has helped her to learn and improve her communication skills as well as normal six-year-old things, like the alphabet, what sounds the letters make and the colours.
“She is a remarkable person, not just a child but a person, because her resilience is absolutely amazing,” Diane said. “You’d think coming from an orphanage environment to a brand new country . . . she had to learn about everything.”
In the next few months, the family will return to the Shriners hospital in Oregon for another assessment and Elsa will likely receive surgery before she enters kindergarten in September.
“You want what’s best for your child and what’s best for your child is communication,” said Diane.
Diane is confident that after the next few visits to the Shriners hospital, Elsa will be speaking.
“She has the world at her feet,” she beamed. Her time with the Shriners is only just beginning, but through their efforts she will be given the chance to say what’s on her mind and take on her next challenge with all the energy she gives her life.
To contact the Shriners of Langley, call Bob Irving at 604-626-4487.
