At age 3 and a half, Taylor was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. After radiation treatments and various treatments, Taylor had to have his left eye removed (enuecliated) at age 4 to keep the cancer from traveling through the optic nerve and throughout the rest of his body. When left untreated, Retinoblastoma is deadly and travels at a rampant pace.
Skip ahead 16 years.....
Due to the radiation treatments, Taylor's left temple did not grow while the rest of his bones grew at a normal rate. This created a groove at the temple and the face to not be symmetrical. The lower left eyelid has began to droop even though this was corrected when in 5th grade. The other concern is the upper eyelid to have more mobility.
So now you know what has landed Taylor at Forest Park Medical Center, Dallas, TX
in the hands of Dr. David Genecov.
Skip ahead 16 years.....
Due to the radiation treatments, Taylor's left temple did not grow while the rest of his bones grew at a normal rate. This created a groove at the temple and the face to not be symmetrical. The lower left eyelid has began to droop even though this was corrected when in 5th grade. The other concern is the upper eyelid to have more mobility.
So now you know what has landed Taylor at Forest Park Medical Center, Dallas, TX
in the hands of Dr. David Genecov.
Taylor prior to surgery ... chilling and texting.......
Pre-Op: Taylor had to be stuck twice to find a vein...
The surgery lasted about 2 and a half hours.
After the surgery....some swelling, but the left temple, looks amazing.... You can see the outline that the Dr used as a guideline to put the "bone paste" into the temple. A syringe is used to inject the paste, and it will begin to harden once it hits 98 degrees. Once it is inserted, the Dr. molded and worked with it to match the other side of the face. Caution will have to be used over the next week to make sure that nothing hits or touches the area. He can't wear a hat, bandage, etc. Right now he can't wear his glasses since the stem will push on the area.
The yellow is betadine that was used to swab the area prior to surgery and it still hangs around once it's all over. The red line on the scalp is where the surgeon cut the area, to feed the "bone paste" to the temple.....
Not sure how many stitches are there that he used to sew him up, but there was zero shaving. Got to keep all the hair! The drain tube was inserted between the skull and the skin to relieve pressure and will be removed on Monday. It goes down into a "grenade" that has to be emptied periodically. I offered to pay the Dr. to sew up the holes in Tay's earlobes....they are still there.
Not pictured is the huge hole at the roof of Taylor's mouth. It's about the size of 1/3 of the pinky finger. They use the mouth tissue to fill in the bottom lid. They do this by cutting inside the eyelid (from side to side) and putting the tissue in that area. After suturing the lid, sutures were put in place to pull the area up and taped to the forehead. This will give the area time to heal properly.
Not pictured is the huge hole at the roof of Taylor's mouth. It's about the size of 1/3 of the pinky finger. They use the mouth tissue to fill in the bottom lid. They do this by cutting inside the eyelid (from side to side) and putting the tissue in that area. After suturing the lid, sutures were put in place to pull the area up and taped to the forehead. This will give the area time to heal properly.More to come..........
Taylor with Dr. David Genecov.
Thanks for the very thorough explanation! We're thinking of and praying for you Tay. You're very brave. Can't wait to see the final result!
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