MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A 15-year-old Haitian girl who once suffered from a massive tumor-like growth that had engulfed her face underwent a third surgery last week that included reconstruction on her eyes, nose and upper lip, a doctor says.
Marlie Casseus was in stable condition after a nearly nine-hour procedure. Her doctor said he was pleased with the results of her surgery on Thursday and the teen is now closer to having normal features.
"I would say that the major reconstruction, the major risk, for surgery ... is already over," said Dr. Jesus Gomez, a University of Miami surgeon.
During the surgery, which took place at Holtz Children's Hospital, doctors narrowed the separation between Marlie's eyes and formed the bridge of her nose and upper lip, Gomez said. She can now breathe through her nose and close her mouth, though not fully.
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 about six years ago, and eventually prevented Marlie from eating, breathing or speaking on her own, doctors said.
Maleine Antoine said her daughter asked after the surgery through gestures how her nose looked.
"I told her, 'Baby, you have a nose,"' Antoine said Friday through a translator.
Marlie's wish on her recent 15th birthday was to be able to "eat normally and go home," Antoine said in a statement.
Going into her first surgery in December, Marlie's eyes, nostrils and a single tooth were her face's only recognizable features. Doctors removed the mass in two stages during that 17-hour surgery and a nearly nine-hour surgery in January. Remnants of the mass that were deep in her face were also removed during the latest surgery, Gomez said.
During previous operations doctors rebuilt the interior of her nose and inserted metal plates to reconstruct her lower eye sockets as well as a plate to recreate the joint that allows her to open and close her mouth.
Marlie will likely still need two more major surgeries as well as dental reconstruction, Gomez said. Future surgeries will work on her jaw and improve her profile, and doctors still have to remove breathing and feeding tubes. Gomez estimated the total cost of the operations would be around $500,000.
Donors have given Holtz's International Kids Fund, which seeks to provide medical care for needy children from around the world, approximately $300,000 for Marlie, but the fund is asking for donations to continue her care, said its director, Maria Luisa Chea. The Haitian nonprofit Good Samaritan for a Better Life helped bring her to the United States.