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Jun 8, 2009 10:00 pm US/Central
N. Texas Surgeons Help Rebuild Face Of 7-Month-Old
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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North Texas Plastic Surgery
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North Texas Plastic Surgery
J.T. Barbour is one of only five children in the entire world to be born with a rare condition that makes him look different from other babies. But, thanks to a North Texas surgeon, J.T. has the chance to lead a normal life.
J.T.'s parents knew their son would be born with facial differences, but they had no idea his condition would be so severe. Still, after his birth, his mother Katie never once questioned her love. "It's my baby. When you have a baby and it's your baby, it doesn't bother you," she said. "He's got a lot of personality. He talks a lot."
Southlake Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Sacha Obaid says J.T. was born with a very rare birth anomaly called a bilateral facial cleft. The type affecting J.T. has been documented in only four other infants in the world. Describing J.T.'s condition Dr. Obaid said, "It went all the way up his cheeks, up his nose, up his eyelids through his eyeballs." The little boy also has missing bones throughout his face and his upper jaw.
(Take a look at J.T.'s CT scans and photos of his face before surgery - above, right.)
Dr. Obaid saw the family days after J.T. was born. "Addressing the family's concerns is the number one thing," he explained. Then, Dr. Obaid embarked on a complicated surgery to rebuild J.T.'s face. "We rebuilt J.T.'s lips, using skin from the sides of his mouth. We rebuilt his entire cheeks, using skin from just in front of his ears." During the operation J.T.'s eyelids were also lifted and rebuilt.
The seven hour surgery at
Cook Children's Medical Center gave J.T. an amazing transformation. "He's eating and drinking just like everybody else. His lip is working wonderful. He's breathing great out of his nose," said Dr. Obaid.
Katie was thrilled with the results. "It was such a change, dramatic change actually. I think he's beautiful." Three weeks after surgery, J.T.'s wounds are healing and he's feeding on his own.
According to Dr. Obaid, now that J.T.'s cheeks are repaired, his voice and personality are going to become more evident. He's already talking to his mom and dad more. "He's a real happy baby. He likes to talk," said his father, John Laura.
There are more surgeries scheduled in July and later this year to rebuild J.T.'s eye structure and palate, which will allow the little boy to have the most normal speech possible.
With the success of operations so far, his parents are confident their son has a bright future. "My hope is for him to look as normal as possible and for him not to be judged; because society is cruel. I don't see why he can't be normal," said Katie.
While J.T.'s condition has left him permanently blind, his parents say that will be no obstacle to their son's success. According to Katie and John, their son loves to hear music and they think he might have a future in the music industry.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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