"I can say that this is a complete success," Dr. Jesus Gomez of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, one of the surgeons involved in the nearly nine-hour operation, told reporters. "She will be able in the future to move her jaw. She is going to recover all the capabilities to swallow and speak."
Casseus will finally be able to smile and speak for the first time in about five years. The mass grew as a result of a form of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a genetic disease that causes bones to swell and become jelly-like.
The growth prevented Casseus from eating, breathing or speaking on her own. "Today I look at her and I see the face I remember from her as a little girl," Marlie's mother, Maleine Antoine, told reporters through an interpreter.
Casseus will need at least two more surgeries so that doctors can re-center her eyes and reconstruct her nasal bridge. She will have teeth implants put in.
Casseus was brought to the United States in September through the Haitian nonprofit group Good Samaritan for a Better Life. Her doctors have also donated their time.
