A New Zealand woman returned home on Wednesday afternoon after an extensive facial surgery at a Dunedin hospital.
Christine Brown underwent a 16-hour face reconstruction last Tuesday, and has been recovering in intensive care.
Her ‘stoked’ husband of 32 years Lee Brown is overjoyed to see his wife again, has been preparing for a week to drive her home to Invercargill.
Christine Brown was born with neurofibromatosis and had multiple tumours grow on her face
The New Zealander underwent a 16-hour face reconstruction in a Dunedin Hospital last week
Mr Lee said he thinks his wife is going to be ‘very, very happy’ when she sees the results of the surgery, which he told The Southland Times was a ‘resounding success’.
‘They have done a really really good job eh,’ he enthused. ‘I said to the nurse, they have done a bloody great job, a marvellous job.’
Surgeons took an 11cm piece of bone from her leg to craft into a cheekbone, and she will soon be able to hear from her left ear for the first time.
The grandmother will also no longer have the ‘droopiness’ on the right of her face that she has had since childhood, and will soon be able to use her right eyelid normally.
In addition, surgeons have opened her right nasal passage which has been blocked since age 7, so she will be able to breathe normally.
Mr Lee told New Zealand media that his wife was bullied for most of her life because of her unusual looks.
Christine Brown was bullied for most of her life because of her unusual looks and ‘droopy’ face
Born with neurofibromatosis, Ms Brown has had multiple tumours to grow on nerves in her body, including her face, which dropped under the weight of the growths.
Dr Matthew Leaper, who operated on Ms Brown along with two other surgeons, a nurse and a team of anesthetists said that it being one of the most difficult surgeries of his career.
He told a New Zealand publication, ‘It all looks quite stable. It’s a long road ahead but I am optimistic.’
This is Ms Brown’s eighteenth surgery on her face; the first seventeen had been unsuccessful
‘She’s looking good, actually. It’s surprising when you see the difference, golly, it’s nice.’
According to the Otago Daily Times, this is Ms Brown’s eighteenth surgery on her face; the first 17 had been unsuccessful in aligning her face.
‘Everything was a bit tricky the whole way through,’ Leaper told New Zealand media immediately after the operation.
Christine Brown had lost most muscle support and structure on one side of her face (pictured)
‘Her skin tissue wasn’t normal, there was scarring from previous surgeries and she’s missing an artery to the right side of her cheek. The anatomy wasn’t as one would expect.’
The team of surgeons also removed a tumour from Ms Brown’s eye during the procedure, according to the NZ Herald.
Prior to the operation, Ms Brown had lost muscle support and structure on the right side of her face.
Dr Matthew Leaper operated on Ms Brown’s face along with two other surgeons and a nurse
Dr Leaper explained that the main goal was to correct some of the facial deformities.
Ms Brown has reportedly seen herself in the mirror for the fist time post-surgery, and is ‘definitely pleased with what they have achieved’.
He said that his wife’s face was still swollen and numb eight days after the procedure, and that it may take up to a year for it to feel normal again.
Christine Brown’s husband Lee has taken her home after eight days recovering in hospital
The only thing marring Mr Brown’s happiness is the fact that his van, which was parked in his driveway, has been smashed and vandalised twice in the past fortnight.
He speculates that this may have been a result of recent media attention, and called the offenders ‘scum’.
He has not left his wife’s side since the operation was completed more than a week ago, and famiy has been nearby thanks to a fundraising campaign.
Ms Brown is also a cancer survivor, and defied the odds when she was given 15 months to live after a Neurofibroma turned aggressively cancerous.
‘But her determination to live won [and] she is still here,’ her adoring husband said. ‘She deserves the best. Or should I say she is the best.’