Little girl has operation to remove giant 'face-eating' tumour and you won't believe what she looks like now!
What a transformation!
This brave little girl is facing a bright future thanks to a team of life-saving doctors who performed surgery on her dangerous tumour.
US-based doctors removed a giant Myxoma tumour from three-year-old Brazilian girl Melyssa Delgado Braga, after the parents took to social media to plead for help.
Their desperate need for help caught the eye of Dr Celso Palmieri at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center who after some research, felt he could help the little girl.
“As I was reading more about her story, I realized our department could probably help her, and particularly Dr. Ghali and his department. I've seen him helping people so many times, so I took a screenshot of the child, and I texted it to him,” Palmieri said of his colleague, Dr. G.E. Ghali to CNN.
"This is typically a benign tumor, non-cancerous, but it's very locally aggressive," he added. "This tumor has pretty much eaten away her entire jaw from one side to the other and has displaced her tongue. (She's) really unable to eat pretty well. She was on her way to be a pretty malnourished child."
Without the surgery poor Melyssa would need a feeding tube and would have her breathing blocked.
"Patients generally die a slow, progressive death from the combination of malnourishment and blocked airways."
The surgery took around eight hours to complete and when the tumour was removed, it was found to weigh over 2kg, which meant Melissa was struggling to lift her head a lot of the time.
"When we were able to remove this tumor, the tumor weighed over 5 pounds on a child that probably doesn't weigh more than 25 pounds herself, total weight," Ghali said.
And just look at her now!
"I am grateful for everything the doctors here have been able to do for my daughter and in only a short month," Melyssa's father announced.
Doctors inserted a titanium plate to rebuild the little girl's lower jaw and she has started to eat properly for the first time.
Once the tumour was removed Melyssa regained full use of her tongue, and her breathing was restored.
Dr Ghali, who was involved in the procedure, said: 'The transformation in the child's appearance is remarkable.
Faye James is a regular contributor at New Idea, WHO and Practical Parenting and works across health, beauty, celebrity and royal content. She has over 20 years of experience spanning across the UK, Middle East and Australia.
