7-year-old girl with no jaw gets one

Lexi Melton was born seven years ago with no lower jaw. Unusual symptoms during pregnancy had led her mom, Lisa, to undergo a sonogram at 27 weeks that revealed her baby's face was not forming properly. Lexi suffers from a rare congenital condition called auriculocondylar syndrome. As a result, she was born with a healthy body and brain - but no lower jaw. Since her birth in November 2008, she has undergone 11 surgeries to reconstruct her face. Without a developed lower jaw, there was no hinge to help Lexi open and close her mouth and take in air. She underwent an operation to create a tracheostomy, a surgically-made hole in the front of the neck that leads to the windpipe (trachea) and allows for breathing in people who can't do it naturally. Since then, Hopper has reconstructed the first-grader's lower jaw, collaborating with other pediatric medical experts from a variety of specialties at Seattle Children's, including plastic surgery, otolaryngology, nursing, neurology, orthopedics, pain management, the neonatal intensive care team, social work, and physical therapy.

But her ordeal is not over yet. Her newly fitted lower jaw is not able to grow with Lexi, and as a result she will have to face at least three more operations until she is fully grown.  Lexi's mom, Lisa, said sometimes people stare at her -- other children -- and they learned early the best way to address it was to be open about it. "When people are staring at her at the park, we open up and and say, 'It looks like you're interested and might have some questions.' And generally it's really positive and they'll be really warm with Lexi and us."
The jaw reconstruction surgery, which began when she was 3, actually involved four surgeries conducted between August 2011 and April 2012. Right now her mom said Lexi still gets nourished through her gastrointestinal feeding tube, but she goes out to dinner with her family and brings a lunch to school and can taste foods. She just can't chew and swallow yet.
But her digestive system is working fine. "The gut is still processing food, but the biggest change she'll need to get used to after future jaw hinge surgery is the swallow. The muscles of the throat are all involved with swallowing, and with time it should become easier," Hopper said.
They've marked the calendar for her next surgery in 2017