At the Laveran hospital in Marseille, the severely mutilated of the face are cared for and accompanied on the long road to reconstruction. A military know-how inherited from the war of 14-18.
Like Julie (below and our photo), several patients have chosen to testify and share their obstacle course towards reconstruction.
The testimonies of Gaël, Ghislaine but also the point on research in this field can be found in La Provence du jour or online: “Marseille: the new face of broken mouths”
Julie: “It all started with gum pain”
Julie a “made little by little“that she was living a nightmare.”I had just had a baby, I was light years away from imagining what would happen to me“. Looking at her youthful features, it is indeed impossible to suspect that a few months ago, this 38-year-old young woman had half of her face amputated.
A whole section of his lower jaw had to be removed after a bone tumor was discovered. A rare lesion, especially in young subjects. “It all started in 2018, with a little pain in the gum. My dentist sent me for a biopsy. The results were not good. I had a first appointment in Laveran, where I went alone. The doctor advised me to return accompanied by a relative“, says Julie.
It was during this new consultation that the verdict was announced to him: “They had to take out half of my jaw. The sledgehammer…“. Ensuite, “Everything happened really fast“. Julie went through each ordeal week after week towards reconstruction. The operations were linked. A dozen hours to implant a titanium plate, drawn to the nearest millimeter from its 3D copy in order to replace the missing jaw. Then a tissue graft made from a flap of skin to fill the voids, and “reconnect” arteries and veins in the neck.
“I was very surrounded by my family, the first support is at home“, she says. After three months of healing spent at home, it was time to install prostheses and dental implants.
“Today is over” smiled the young woman, “there are still small problems with the maintenance of the prosthesis, infections to watch out for. I have a small scar in my neck, and the shape of my lips has changed a bit, but I found myself in the mirror“.