Jul 2, 2009 10:00 am US/Eastern
Haitian Teen To Undergo Seventh Facial Surgery
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Marlie Casseus, a Haitian teen who had a massive tumor like mass removed from her face, makes her first public appearance on September 29th, 2006.
CBS
Marlie Casseus has had six surgeries to remove the 16-pound tumor from her face.
In 2005, Marlie and her family traveled from Haiti to Miami to receive the medical care she could not get in her country.
On Thursday, she will have what her doctors' hope will be her seventh and final surgery, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. It will be to replace an implant on her face.
For Marlie, the tumor that began as the size of a mushroom when she was 8, ballooned into a 16-pound tumor that took up 80 percent of her face. It baffled doctors in her native Haiti.
That deformity took a toll on her self image. Her mother Maleine said it got so bad that Marlie quit school at the age of 12. She couldn't take the teasing, the stares. The corrective surgeries performed at Holtz Children's Hospital of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center have not only changed her appearance, but boosted her self-esteem.
''She's not the same Marlie; she's very independent now. She does what she wants to do; she's not scared,'' her mother, Maleine Antoine told The Herald.
She's now the subject of a documentary that will air on Discovery Health.
Marlie, now 17 years old, has come a long way despite a few setbacks.
The previous surgery was done after an infection emerged.
"One of the implants got infected," explained Dr. Jesus Gomez at Jackson Memorial Hospital last month.
Gomez removed the implant and Casseus' face began to lose its symmetry.
"This surgery will allow us to put in a new implant and remove more of the tissue that has formed. It's critical so that she can resume making progress that she lost since she does not have her implant on the left side," said Gomez.
Click Here to find out how you can help pay for Casseus' surgeries and recovery.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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