MIAMI (AP) – Doctors in Florida plan to remove a 10-pound tumor from a Cuban teen’s face.
The Miami Herald reported that Emanuel Zayas, 14, and his parents recently went to Miami on a medical visa. Dr. Robert Marx, head of the Oral Surgery and Jaw System at the University of Miami and a team of surgeons commissioned on Jan. 12 at Jackson’s Holtz Children’s Hospital..
Marx noted that Emmanuel was born with a rare disorder called polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, which causes the body to develop a wound-like tissue instead of the bone. The disorder usually causes fractures and deformities in the arms, legs and skull.
Emanuel’s father, Noel Zayas, says that when the boy arrives at puberty and grows up quickly in a few months, the tumor begins as an acne. The tumor is benign, but the child’s neck threatens to break and strangle.
Noel Zayas had decided that Emmanuel was 2 years old when he started having bone fragments in his hips and deforming as his left leg grew. Cuban doctors said he would not risk surgery on Emanuel’s facial tumor.
Emanuel and his family, Noel Zayas and Melvis Vizaino, arrived in Miami three weeks ago with a medical visa in Villa Cara, central Cuba. The family stays at Ronald McDonald House near the Jackson Memorial; where Melvis Vizaino said that the staff made them feel good.
Marx and other members of the Oral and Maxillofacial reconstruction team will remove the tumor, which should last 10 to 14 hours during surgery. A few months later, Emanuel is likely to undergo a second operation that uses the hip bone to reconstruct the cheekbone, upper jaw, and nose of the doctors. But donors are raising money to cover Emanuel’s hospital and other costs. like drugs and medical supplies needed for recovery. Marx estimated that the costs could be $ 200,000 or more.