An American man who had a tumour on his face, which had grown into a melon size, has got it successfully removed, however the cancer has eaten up half his face. He has been given a Terminator-style transplant by a specialist surgeon.
BEFORE
Tim McGrath, 38, encountered what doctors called the “worse case scenario” in 2014. After an operation to remove his extremely rare soft-tissue cancer, Synovial Sarcoma tumour, he was left with ‘half a face’ and unable to eat or drink.
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NOW
Medics failed to reconstruct his face, leaving Tim with exposed flesh for over a year. But a leading surgeon came to rescue him from this situation and began giving the cancer survivor a terminator-style face transplant.
Dr Kongkrit Chaiyasate used skin from Tim’s leg and forearm to reconstruct his face. Reconstruction work on his face will now resume in 2018 for further improvement in his ability to breath and take food.
Tim, from Michigan, USA, said: “After the operation to remove the tumour I was heartbroken, I didn’t realise that half of my face would be taken away and it wasn’t until I went to Dr Chaiyasate that I start to feel real hope again.
“I was covered in scars from previous surgeries which limited my options for reconstruction but we went ahead and the outcome has been incredible. He reconstructed my face using skin and muscle from my left leg, left forearm, and a flap from my forehead, and skin graphs were used to help the healing process.
“I currently can’t drink liquid, eat through my mouth, or pronounce certain words, however my quality of life has improved massively.
There are people who stare at me, mostly children who don’t understand, but I would hope that others look past what they can see.
“My journey has been long and mostly inconceivable to most, but I have an amazing support group around me and I draw strength from them daily.
“I have been through something horrific, but if what I’ve gone through can inspire people to live their lives with gratitude for the things they take for granted than it makes what I’ve gone through all worth it.”
Tim was diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma in February 2014 after he encountered severe jaw pain. An MRI revealed an egg-sized tumour however Tim turned down surgery and spent the following 18 months seeking non-surgical alternatives.
Unfortunately Synovial Sarcoma is resistant to many things, including chemotherapy, and the tumour continued to grow.
He added: “At the end of May 2015 the tumour doubled in size (as Synovial Sarcoma is resistant to chemotherapy and other similar treatments) and I had to have a tracheotomy fitted to enable me to breathe and a feeding tube so I could eat, because the tumour had invaded the space in my mouth.
“Heavy doses of radiation caused the tumour to start dying and shrink and parts started to fall off, eventually I got my mouth back and I could eat very thin pieces of food.
“After the tumour shrank and the radiation treatment was over I had to wait a few weeks before they could remove the remaining mass.”
In October 2015, Tim was admitted to hospital where he remained for almost seven weeks following the initial 30 hour operation to remove and then reconstruct his face.
Tim said: “Before the surgery they gave me the worst case scenario, they said I would have to lose my left eye and my left ear, but I didn’t’ believe that was going to be necessary.
“When I woke up I was in complete shock, as well as removing part of my face and bone structure, they had removed most of the muscle in my back, they had taken a rib, and they took part of my scapula and part of my shoulder too.
“This was so that they could rebuild my bone structure and the surrounding area however my body rejected the first attempts.
“Eventually I was discharged and the cavity was closed but over time the transplant kept shrinking and I experienced numerous infections.
“There were so many times when I wanted to give up and at times it was difficult to find the strength to carry on.”
During his long journey towards recovery Tim made the bold decision to leave his original surgeon and was welcomed with open arms by Dr Chaiyasate – who he heard about through a friend – in April 2016.
He added: “I am fortunate enough that he practices within 12 miles of my parents’ house.
“Dr C is a humanitarian, who dedicates his life towards giving and helping others, he is humble and has an amazing sense of humour, I consider him a great friend.
“He has given me so much hope.
“I’ve had over 20 surgeries to date and five of those have been with Dr C, none of which have been rejected.
“Dr C now wants me to have a year off to relax and gain my strength back, let the swelling go down and just have fun in life.
“I am definitely taking advantage of every opportunity I have to live.”
Dr Chaiyasate will continue with the reconstruction of Tim’s face next winter which will further help his speech and will give him the ability to eat and drink again.
Tim said: “My family and friends have been amazing and their fundraisers have helped me afford and endure the $40-50k that has had to come out of pocket.
“I have been incredibly lucky to have insurance, the first eight weeks in hospital rang up a bill of $1.2 million alone.
“I have now found the confidence to share my story, https://www.facebook.com/toughliketim/, and if my journey can lead to a happy life for others around me then I truly understand why I was chosen to walk this path.”
