August 2008 - the Parklander

COMMUNITY NEWS
By Bill Johnson
E“Everyone knows me at the hospital,”
says 12-year-old Parkland resident
Sarah Cooper. No wonder. She’s already
had 24 surgeries – averaging two a year.
continued from page 85
Face to Face with Sarah Cooper
This was necessary because Sarah was born
with a craniofacial abnormality. Her face and
mouth were not properly developed. She was born
with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Correcting the
abnormalities was just as important for her as breathing and
eating as for her appearance.
Despite her numerous ordeals, Sarah’s blue eyes flash with enthusiasm
when she speaks about sports, and her ready smile reflects a sharp
sense of humor.
A major problem with surgery, she explains, is that recovery time
interrupts her sports schedule. Although her guitar is always there, her
true loves are basketball and soccer. She is one of only two sixth grade girls
to play basketball for the Westglades Middle School team and she also
plays in recreational leagues in Parkland and Coral Springs. She plays
recreational soccer in Parkland. “Perhaps the only sports I haven’t played
are lacrosse and football,” she says. And she plans to play flag football this
fall “if my dad remembers to sign me up.”
Despite her own medical ordeals, Sarah has given time and thought to
others who have medical problems and financial burdens. Her mom points
out that as a 5th grader, Sarah donated her hair to support Locks of Love,
an organization that uses the donated hair for wigs for those losing their
hair to chemotherapy. She
was always looking for a
new way to “make a
difference” and this was one
way she knew how.
When Sarah was
recovering from surgery
and couldn’t play active
sports, her dad would take
her bowling. One trip to
the bowling alley resulted
in an idea for a fund-raising
event. So this past May,
Sarah hosted an event at
the bowling alley to raise
money for an organization
called Facing It Together.
The organization raises
money to help pay for the
various surgeries and other
medical and dental
expenses associated with
108 AUGUST 2008
craniofacial anomalies. The bowling
event and additional contributions
have raised about $5,000, according to
Sarah’s mom. That amount of money
will definitely make a difference.
Sarah gives others the credit for doing the work.
“I was just the host and walked around making
small talk,” she says.
The fund-raising effort was inspired by her religious orientation. “To
become a bat mitzvah, you have to have a project,” she says. Her plastic
surgeon was the founder of Facing It Together and she decided to support
that organization as her project. Aware of the high cost of such surgery
and other related medical expenses, she now urges others to learn about
the organization.
You might think that 24 surgeries in 12 years – and the weeks it takes to
recover – would interfere with schoolwork. Asked about that, Sarah says,
“Shockingly, it hasn’t affected my schooling.” She does not readily
volunteer the information that she’s actually a straight-A student.
Even after 24 surgeries, unfortunately there are more to come. Sarah
explains that doctors say certain surgeries must be performed at certain
ages or at certain developmental stages of our bodies. But she seems to
take it all in stride. “I’m used to it now,” she says. “It’s a hassle, but you’ve
gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”
The cost of those surgeries and related medical care is enormous, and
begin at the moment of birth. As an infant, for example, Sarah couldn’t
drink from a traditional baby’s bottle. She needed a specially designed
nipple that cost $200, and insurance wouldn’t pay for it. At the time, it was
not considered a medical necessity. In one recent year, as an example of the
high cost of medical care, the bill for Sarah’s orthodontics reached
$20,000.To date, the cost of 24 surgeries has run the family more than one
million dollars in medical bills. Sarah’s mom and dad – Lisa and Gary
Cooper of Parkland – stopped counting long ago. Gary has his own
accounting and consulting practice and Lisa operates her own home
health care company, Maxicare Select, and they are able to maintain
insurance coverage. “We are lucky,” says Lisa. “Insurance pays most of it,
but not without a fight every step of the way. We’ve had out-of-pocket
expenses and feel fortunate to have kept them to a reasonable amount
compared to what they could have been.”
Sarah’s love of sports is evident by her busy schedule of events. As she
looks toward the future and what it might bring, she reveals her passion
for sports by saying she’d like to be a professional basketball player. But she
has other ideas as well. “If I can’t play basketball,” she says, “I’d like to be a
plastic surgeon. I know from experience how important that is.”
For more information on the non-profit organization, Facing It Together,
log on to www.facingittogether.org.
COMMUNITY NEWS continues on page 134
Bill Johnson is a partner in Treehouse Studios, a graphic design and communication business in Coconut
Creek. Email him at Johnson@theparklander.com.