14살 하이티 소녀여 행복하소서

Maxillofacial surgeon Jesus Gomez of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine,

explains the surgical procedure performed on Marlie Casseus during a news conference

Friday, Dec. 16, 2005, in Miami. The photo on the right, shows Marlie after the operation.

The 14-year-old Haitian girl underwent the rare operation Wednesday to remove much of

a 16-pound tumor-like growth on her face that all but obliterated her features.

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz

얼굴을 망가뜨린 얼굴에 달린 종양같은 16파운드의 거대 부푼 부위를

악안전문외과의가 깨끗하게 제거하고 그녀 스스로 호흡을 할 수 있었다고,

담당의사가 기분 좋으면 엄지 손가락을 세워라 했더니 용감하게 들어올렸다고.

그냥 두었다면 시력마져도 잃어버리게 될 지경이었다고. 완치는 2개월 정도 걸리는 데

지금 얼굴은 꺼져버린 계란 같기에 보형물을 사용하고 있다고. 하이티의 이웃 주민들은

그녀가 집으로 돌아오는 것을 반대한 데요. 어쩔 수 없는 미신의 후진국 증후군

세계가 지켜본 하이티의 14살 소녀에 행복을 그리구 mr doctor, merry x-mas to you~~~~

Doctors: Surgery on Girl's Face a Success

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ, Associated Press Writer Sat Dec 17, 5:19 PM ET

MIAMI - A Haitian girl gave a thumbs up to doctors a day after they finished removing much of

a 16-pound tumor-like mass that had engulfed her face.

Doctors at Jackson Memorial Medical Center in Miami called the 17-hour procedure a success.

It went so well they were able to remove the growth from both sides of 14-year-old Marlie Casseus' face,

rather than just one side as planned, the doctors said Friday.

Marlie was breathing on her own and was in stable condition at the center's Holtz Children's Hospital,

said Dr. Jesus Gomez of the University of Miami School of Medicine, one of the surgeons involved

in the operation. "She's doing extremely well. She's healing according to plan. She's extremely happy.

We're extremely excited," an exhausted Gomez told reporters.

Gomez said doctors are still concerned about the risk of infection. He called Marlie a brave girl.

"I asked her in my broken Creole, 'Marlie if you're OK, give me thumbs up,' and she raised her thumb up,"

he said.

Casseus suffers from a rare form of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a nonhereditary, genetic disease

that causes bone to become swollen and jelly-like. Doctors said the pressure of the growth on her

eye socket would have caused her to go blind if they hadn't operated.

The Haitian nonprofit Good Samaritan helped bring Casseus to the U.S. in September after the painful

growth became so big it began to crush her breathing passage. The doctors are donating their time.

Marlie's mother, Maleine Antoine, thanked doctors and all those who donated funds to help pay for

the operation. "I hope that she has a life and will be happy like any normal teen girl. She has suffered

so much," Antoine said through an interpreter.

During the operation that began Wednesday morning, doctors inserted metal plates to reconstruct Marlie's

lower eye-sockets after the mass of jelly and bone was removed. Doctors also reconstructed the interior of

her nose, which had been all but destroyed by the disease.

Gomez said they hoped to operate on her jaw, which has swelled to nearly double its normal size,

in about two months. Further reconstructive surgeries will follow.

Already photos of the girl before and after showed a stark difference. The bulbous mass that made her look

as if her face had been stretched over an eggplant was gone.

Gomez said Marlie will be able to breathe through her nose but is unlikely to have a sense of smell or taste.

Only about 3 percent of the 150,000 people diagnosed with the disease worldwide suffer such an extreme condition,

Gomez said.

Back home in Port-au-Prince, Casseus was rejected by her neighbors, who would cross the street when

she walked by. The hospital's International Kids Fund, which seeks to provide medical care to needy children

from around the world, said donations for Marlie's operation had come from as far as Iceland and Hong Kong.

The fund said it is seeking more money for Marlie's continued care.