Now that we’ve done our annual Year in Review, it’s time to look forward to all the children we’ll be helping in the coming year. Because of international travel requirements and logistics, we don’t have our entire year fully booked in advance, but we already have some children’s visits officially booked, and we are beyond excited. Some will be here for the first time, and some will be returning to us for the next stage of their treatment. Here’s a quick look at some of our scheduled visits for 2025.
We’ll be welcoming Gracie back for her 10th visit at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and to say we’re excited would be an understatement. If you’ve been following along with Gracie’s story, you’ll know how much joy and laughter she brings to our offices. She’s so full of life, even when she is in recovery mode from her treatments! At her last visit with us in August of 2024, her progress and treatment plan was reevaluated. Dr. Waner confirmed that Gracie still needs some bulk to her lower lip, which will be accomplished by a surgery called an island flap. This involves sewing the upper lip to the lower lip, where it will stay attached for 8 days until it has established a blood supply. Then, we will cut the lips apart again, but higher up, giving her some bulk on the lower lip. We are essentially taking some of her upper lip in order to build her lower lip. During the 8-day period where her mouth is partially sewn shut, Gracie will be nourished through a G-tube. She’s quite a tough cookie and is ready and willing to face this treatment in order to improve her health. Right now, she is dealing with drooling and trouble opening her mouth wide enough for a large spoon, for example, so she’s motivated—and brave—enough to undergo treatment. Dr. Romo will also be performing an ear reconstruction surgery eventually, but the priority right now is her mouth surgery as this is the most urgent. Gracie will also continue her laser treatments to address the marks of her ulcerated hemangioma.
We’ll also be welcoming Nattie from Ethiopia back for his second visit, which is stage 2 of his microtia surgery. Stage 1 was the reconstruction of Nattie’s ear, which involved taking rib cartilage to create the foundation of an ear and attaching it to the side of Nattie’s head. This second surgery will be an incision to release the ear from the head, so that it has space behind it like a typical ear. Dr. Romo will also set the non-mictrotic ear back a little for balance, that way he will not have to bring the microtic ear as far forward. We are so excited for Nattie to see his newly healed ear. We told him he’ll finally be able to wear sunglasses for the first time!
Another longtime veteran of the Little Baby Face Foundation, Bjorn will be returning from Jamaica for his ongoing treatment this summer. (We need to plan around his school vacations to allow him ample time to recover from surgery.) His next step is to undergo jaw surgery with Dr. Yusupov. The goal of this surgery will be to expand his jaw by inserting a device to create space. It isn’t a pleasant process, but it is the most effective way to expand the jaw, and it’s temporary. He will then have a subsequent surgery to align the jaw and remove the device. Bjorn will also have his wisdom teeth removed at the same time to avoid having to have a separate procedure, as the wisdom teeth must be removed for this second surgery to be successful in aligning the jaw. We are all about minimizing treatments and avoiding unnecessary discomfort. Bjorn also has an abnormally small tongue, so that will need to be addressed down the line.
Another confirmed visit for 2025, Zunairah will be coming for the first time to our offices for an extended stay of two months. She has a large hairy nevus around her mouth, so she will need to undergo skin expansion treatment to gradually stretch the surrounding skin, making enough room for us to surgically remove the nevi. We’re looking forward to meeting her in person and witnessing her transformation.
Be sure to check back here for updates on children’s treatments. To all of our donors, thank you so much for your support on this journey. Here’s to changing faces and changing lives in the year ahead together!
We’ll be welcoming Gracie back for her 10th visit at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and to say we’re excited would be an understatement. If you’ve been following along with Gracie’s story, you’ll know how much joy and laughter she brings to our offices. She’s so full of life, even when she is in recovery mode from her treatments! At her last visit with us in August of 2024, her progress and treatment plan was reevaluated. Dr. Waner confirmed that Gracie still needs some bulk to her lower lip, which will be accomplished by a surgery called an island flap. This involves sewing the upper lip to the lower lip, where it will stay attached for 8 days until it has established a blood supply. Then, we will cut the lips apart again, but higher up, giving her some bulk on the lower lip. We are essentially taking some of her upper lip in order to build her lower lip. During the 8-day period where her mouth is partially sewn shut, Gracie will be nourished through a G-tube. She’s quite a tough cookie and is ready and willing to face this treatment in order to improve her health. Right now, she is dealing with drooling and trouble opening her mouth wide enough for a large spoon, for example, so she’s motivated—and brave—enough to undergo treatment. Dr. Romo will also be performing an ear reconstruction surgery eventually, but the priority right now is her mouth surgery as this is the most urgent. Gracie will also continue her laser treatments to address the marks of her ulcerated hemangioma.
We’ll also be welcoming Nattie from Ethiopia back for his second visit, which is stage 2 of his microtia surgery. Stage 1 was the reconstruction of Nattie’s ear, which involved taking rib cartilage to create the foundation of an ear and attaching it to the side of Nattie’s head. This second surgery will be an incision to release the ear from the head, so that it has space behind it like a typical ear. Dr. Romo will also set the non-mictrotic ear back a little for balance, that way he will not have to bring the microtic ear as far forward. We are so excited for Nattie to see his newly healed ear. We told him he’ll finally be able to wear sunglasses for the first time!
Another longtime veteran of the Little Baby Face Foundation, Bjorn will be returning from Jamaica for his ongoing treatment this summer. (We need to plan around his school vacations to allow him ample time to recover from surgery.) His next step is to undergo jaw surgery with Dr. Yusupov. The goal of this surgery will be to expand his jaw by inserting a device to create space. It isn’t a pleasant process, but it is the most effective way to expand the jaw, and it’s temporary. He will then have a subsequent surgery to align the jaw and remove the device. Bjorn will also have his wisdom teeth removed at the same time to avoid having to have a separate procedure, as the wisdom teeth must be removed for this second surgery to be successful in aligning the jaw. We are all about minimizing treatments and avoiding unnecessary discomfort. Bjorn also has an abnormally small tongue, so that will need to be addressed down the line.
Another confirmed visit for 2025, Zunairah will be coming for the first time to our offices for an extended stay of two months. She has a large hairy nevus around her mouth, so she will need to undergo skin expansion treatment to gradually stretch the surrounding skin, making enough room for us to surgically remove the nevi. We’re looking forward to meeting her in person and witnessing her transformation.
Be sure to check back here for updates on children’s treatments. To all of our donors, thank you so much for your support on this journey. Here’s to changing faces and changing lives in the year ahead together!
Now that we’ve done our annual Year in Review, it’s time to look forward to all the children we’ll be helping in the coming year. Because of international travel requirements and logistics, we don’t have our entire year fully booked in advance, but we already have some children’s visits officially booked, and we are beyond excited. Some will be here for the first time, and some will be returning to us for the next stage of their treatment. Here’s a quick look at some of our scheduled visits for 2025.
We’ll be welcoming Gracie back for her 10th visit at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and to say we’re excited would be an understatement. If you’ve been following along with Gracie’s story, you’ll know how much joy and laughter she brings to our offices. She’s so full of life, even when she is in recovery mode from her treatments! At her last visit with us in August of 2024, her progress and treatment plan was reevaluated. Dr. Waner confirmed that Gracie still needs some bulk to her lower lip, which will be accomplished by a surgery called an island flap. This involves sewing the upper lip to the lower lip, where it will stay attached for 8 days until it has established a blood supply. Then, we will cut the lips apart again, but higher up, giving her some bulk on the lower lip. We are essentially taking some of her upper lip in order to build her lower lip. During the 8-day period where her mouth is partially sewn shut, Gracie will be nourished through a G-tube. She’s quite a tough cookie and is ready and willing to face this treatment in order to improve her health. Right now, she is dealing with drooling and trouble opening her mouth wide enough for a large spoon, for example, so she’s motivated—and brave—enough to undergo treatment. Dr. Romo will also be performing an ear reconstruction surgery eventually, but the priority right now is her mouth surgery as this is the most urgent. Gracie will also continue her laser treatments to address the marks of her ulcerated hemangioma.
We’ll also be welcoming Nattie from Ethiopia back for his second visit, which is stage 2 of his microtia surgery. Stage 1 was the reconstruction of Nattie’s ear, which involved taking rib cartilage to create the foundation of an ear and attaching it to the side of Nattie’s head. This second surgery will be an incision to release the ear from the head, so that it has space behind it like a typical ear. Dr. Romo will also set the non-mictrotic ear back a little for balance, that way he will not have to bring the microtic ear as far forward. We are so excited for Nattie to see his newly healed ear. We told him he’ll finally be able to wear sunglasses for the first time!
Another longtime veteran of the Little Baby Face Foundation, Bjorn will be returning from Jamaica for his ongoing treatment this summer. (We need to plan around his school vacations to allow him ample time to recover from surgery.) His next step is to undergo jaw surgery with Dr. Yusupov. The goal of this surgery will be to expand his jaw by inserting a device to create space. It isn’t a pleasant process, but it is the most effective way to expand the jaw, and it’s temporary. He will then have a subsequent surgery to align the jaw and remove the device. Bjorn will also have his wisdom teeth removed at the same time to avoid having to have a separate procedure, as the wisdom teeth must be removed for this second surgery to be successful in aligning the jaw. We are all about minimizing treatments and avoiding unnecessary discomfort. Bjorn also has an abnormally small tongue, so that will need to be addressed down the line.
Another confirmed visit for 2025, Zunairah will be coming for the first time to our offices for an extended stay of two months. She has a large hairy nevus around her mouth, so she will need to undergo skin expansion treatment to gradually stretch the surrounding skin, making enough room for us to surgically remove the nevi. We’re looking forward to meeting her in person and witnessing her transformation.
Be sure to check back here for updates on children’s treatments. To all of our donors, thank you so much for your support on this journey. Here’s to changing faces and changing lives in the year ahead together!
We’ll be welcoming Gracie back for her 10th visit at the Little Baby Face Foundation, and to say we’re excited would be an understatement. If you’ve been following along with Gracie’s story, you’ll know how much joy and laughter she brings to our offices. She’s so full of life, even when she is in recovery mode from her treatments! At her last visit with us in August of 2024, her progress and treatment plan was reevaluated. Dr. Waner confirmed that Gracie still needs some bulk to her lower lip, which will be accomplished by a surgery called an island flap. This involves sewing the upper lip to the lower lip, where it will stay attached for 8 days until it has established a blood supply. Then, we will cut the lips apart again, but higher up, giving her some bulk on the lower lip. We are essentially taking some of her upper lip in order to build her lower lip. During the 8-day period where her mouth is partially sewn shut, Gracie will be nourished through a G-tube. She’s quite a tough cookie and is ready and willing to face this treatment in order to improve her health. Right now, she is dealing with drooling and trouble opening her mouth wide enough for a large spoon, for example, so she’s motivated—and brave—enough to undergo treatment. Dr. Romo will also be performing an ear reconstruction surgery eventually, but the priority right now is her mouth surgery as this is the most urgent. Gracie will also continue her laser treatments to address the marks of her ulcerated hemangioma.
We’ll also be welcoming Nattie from Ethiopia back for his second visit, which is stage 2 of his microtia surgery. Stage 1 was the reconstruction of Nattie’s ear, which involved taking rib cartilage to create the foundation of an ear and attaching it to the side of Nattie’s head. This second surgery will be an incision to release the ear from the head, so that it has space behind it like a typical ear. Dr. Romo will also set the non-mictrotic ear back a little for balance, that way he will not have to bring the microtic ear as far forward. We are so excited for Nattie to see his newly healed ear. We told him he’ll finally be able to wear sunglasses for the first time!
Another longtime veteran of the Little Baby Face Foundation, Bjorn will be returning from Jamaica for his ongoing treatment this summer. (We need to plan around his school vacations to allow him ample time to recover from surgery.) His next step is to undergo jaw surgery with Dr. Yusupov. The goal of this surgery will be to expand his jaw by inserting a device to create space. It isn’t a pleasant process, but it is the most effective way to expand the jaw, and it’s temporary. He will then have a subsequent surgery to align the jaw and remove the device. Bjorn will also have his wisdom teeth removed at the same time to avoid having to have a separate procedure, as the wisdom teeth must be removed for this second surgery to be successful in aligning the jaw. We are all about minimizing treatments and avoiding unnecessary discomfort. Bjorn also has an abnormally small tongue, so that will need to be addressed down the line.
Another confirmed visit for 2025, Zunairah will be coming for the first time to our offices for an extended stay of two months. She has a large hairy nevus around her mouth, so she will need to undergo skin expansion treatment to gradually stretch the surrounding skin, making enough room for us to surgically remove the nevi. We’re looking forward to meeting her in person and witnessing her transformation.
Be sure to check back here for updates on children’s treatments. To all of our donors, thank you so much for your support on this journey. Here’s to changing faces and changing lives in the year ahead together!