New Smile
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| Before Surgery |
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| An hour after Surgery |
Dr. Waner and Dr. O spoke with us shortly after 7 last night and let us know that Josie's surgery went very well. In Dr. Waner's words she is "perfectly symmetrical" now. He removed a considerable amount of tumor from below her eye all the way down to her lower jaw. They tucked her nose, shaped the bone below her eye, lifted her lip and tightened her lower eye lid as well. Her doctors did make the decision (while in surgery) to wait on the reanimation procedure for a year (reanimation is the process of surgically correcting facial paralysis through nerve grafting and muscle transfers). They want to be sure there is no regrowth of the disease before they begin reanimation. So next steps for us will include getting a baseline MRI and then another next Spring. If the tumor shows no signs of re-growth we will begin reanimation next Summer. They mentioned the possibility of removing the disease that is on her forehead later this summer, but that is still up for discussion. I'm sure we'll talk more at her follow-up appointment next week.
In the meantime, we are very pleased with the outcome from yesterday's surgery and are over-the-moon to see her first balanced smile! The first thing that struck me was how much her smile resembled my dad's beautiful smile, made me melt! I showed Josie pictures of her new face (that I'd taken before her swelling began) and what she saw brought on her first of many smiles today (that is just everything to this mother's heart). Today I teased her that when she looses those two loose front teeth now we'll be able to see that beautiful gummy smile. So much to celebrate, God is so good!!!
Josie had a very peaceful night's recovery, so peaceful that I actually got to sleep from 1-6 a.m. (that never happens). I don't think we've ever had a more smooth or pleasant night after surgery. Josie is actually resting comfortably back in our apartment now, we were discharged just before noon today.
In the meantime, we are very pleased with the outcome from yesterday's surgery and are over-the-moon to see her first balanced smile! The first thing that struck me was how much her smile resembled my dad's beautiful smile, made me melt! I showed Josie pictures of her new face (that I'd taken before her swelling began) and what she saw brought on her first of many smiles today (that is just everything to this mother's heart). Today I teased her that when she looses those two loose front teeth now we'll be able to see that beautiful gummy smile. So much to celebrate, God is so good!!!
Josie had a very peaceful night's recovery, so peaceful that I actually got to sleep from 1-6 a.m. (that never happens). I don't think we've ever had a more smooth or pleasant night after surgery. Josie is actually resting comfortably back in our apartment now, we were discharged just before noon today.
If anyone has questions or would like me to clarify anything please feel free to post questions in the comment section or on Facebook, I'll try my best to answer. I'm off to spend time with Cheryl before she flies homes. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you for your words of encouragement, prayers, texts, positive thoughts, etc. It carries us through these surgeries!
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