27368: Hermantin(News)Haitian teen recovering after second surgery to remove facial gro (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

lhermantiin@hotmail.com


Sun Sentinel




Haitian teen recovering after second surgery to remove facial growth




By Jennifer Kay
Associated Press Writer

January 27, 2006, 5:48 PM EST



MIAMI (AP) -- A Haitian teen will be able to smile and speak for the first time 
in years now that she is finally free of a massive tumor-like growth that had 
engulfed her face, doctors said Friday.

Marlie Casseus, 14, was recovering in intensive care after doctors at Jackson 
Memorial Medical Center in Miami removed the remains of a 16-pound mass from 
around her mouth and jaw during a nearly nine-hour procedure Thursday.

``I can say that this is a complete success,'' said Dr. Jesus Gomez of the 
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, one of the surgeons involved in 
the operation. ``She will be able in the future to move her jaw. She is going 
to recover all the capabilities to swallow and speak.''

Doctors removed much of the mass from the upper portion of Marlie's face last 
month.

Marlie suffers from a rare form of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a 
nonhereditary, genetic disease that causes bone to swell and become jelly-like. 
The growth began five years ago, and eventually prevented Marlie from eating, 
breathing or speaking on her own, doctors said. By December, only her eyes, 
nostrils and a single tooth were recognizable in her severely swollen and 
distorted face.

``Today I look at her and I see the face I remember from her as a little 
girl,'' Marlie's mother, Maleine Antoine, said through an interpreter.

During a 17-hour operation last month, doctors rebuilt the interior of her nose 
and inserted metal plates to reconstruct Marlie's lower eye sockets.

Doctors on Thursday cut open Marlie's lower lip, removed the remaining mass -- 
about the size of two large fists -- and inserted a titanium plate to recreate 
the joint that allows her to open and close her mouth, Gomez said.

Postoperative photos showed Marlie, though still swollen from surgery, with a 
more clearly defined nose, mouth and jawline.

Marlie needs at least two additional reconstructive surgeries to re-center her 
widely set eyes and reconstruct her nasal bridge, as well as teeth implants, 
Gomez said.

Marlie's mother and doctors said the girl's spirits were recovering as well. 
The girl who walked with her head down and avoided interacting with anyone 
before her first surgery has been dancing in her hospital bed and making 
Haitian and U.S. flags, they said.

``She gave a U.S. flag to Dr. Gomez. It was her way of saying, 'Thank you,''' 
Antoine said.

Whether Marlie will be able to smell or taste normally is uncertain until her 
breathing tube can be removed in several weeks, doctors said. She was also 
being given antibiotics intravenously to ward off potential infections.

The Haitian nonprofit Good Samaritan for a Better Life helped bring her to the 
United States in September, after the painful growth became so big it began 
crushing Marlie's breathing passage and threatened to blind her. The doctors 
have donated their time.

Antoine and Gina and Ginette Eugene, twin sisters who founded the Good 
Samaritan charity, thanked the doctors and donors, bursting into ``God Bless 
America'' and religious hymns.

The hospital's International Kids Fund, which seeks to provide medical care for 
needy children from around the world, is asking for donations to continue 
Marlie's care.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel