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Monday through Saturday, Kyle Cooper wakes up at 5:40 in the morning to get to his construction job by 7:00. On his only day off, he shoots trap at the local sportsman’s club with his grandfather. Things that would bother a typical teen—a long commute, arduous work, little time off for friends—barely faze Kyle. This 18-year-old has the quiet confidence and patience of someone twice his age.
Kyle’s demeanor may be due in part to having had to wait a lifetime for something he wanted so badly. He was born with hemifacial microsomia (HFM), a craniofacial anomaly that resulted in the left side of his face being underdeveloped. The cause of HFM is not well understood. Until this past February, what HFM meant for Kyle was that his face was noticeably uneven and barely any of his teeth touched. “I made it through and got used to it, but I couldn’t eat things like meat because it would take me three hours to chew.” …
Life with ‘the little warrior’ 19 months after encephalocele surgery
Photo courtesy of Lorrin Sell
Nearly every morning in the quiet, early light, 19-month-old Owen Sheridan awakens not with a cry but with a steady, strong-willed yell, just to tell his parents he’s ready to begin the day.
“We will change his diaper and bring him into bed with us,” says Owen’s mom Jen Sheridan. “He will babble happily. And when he smiles, it is the sweetest thing.”
For the Sheridans, the smile is just one of the many miracles since Owen, the little warrior as they call him, returned home from Boston Children’s Hospital on Jan. 11, 2014.
Born with a rare growth called an encephalocele, Owen was given little chance of survival. During early development, fluid and tissue normally encased in the skull had seeped outwards forming a large mass on top of his head. The growth was so large—more than half his weight—the Sheridans weren’t able to hold him for the first four weeks of life.
Violet’s journey: 3D models help doctors plan her surgery
Performing an incredibly complex surgery like Violet’s craniofacial reconstruction takes teamwork and highly specialized tools. Our doctors used 3D printing to create models of Violet’s skull and practice her surgery before ever meeting her. Join us and watch Violet’s journey unfold.
Catching up with Dominic Gundrum
When Dominic Gundrum first came to Boston Children’s Hospital late in 2012, his future was very much unknown.
He was born with a large, triangle-shaped gap running from his upper lip through the middle of his nose and forehead, known to the medical community as a Tessier midline facial cleft. His cleft was so large that fluid and tissue from his brain, normally encased in the skull, had seeped outwards, forming a golf ball-sized bubble underneath the skin of his forehead. It’s a condition called an encephalocele, and Dominic’s was so severe doctors weren’t sure how much they would be able to help him. …