A young girl has a brighter future thanks to the local doctors who performed a life-saving surgery to remove a massive tumor that was slowly killing her. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
Doctors gave her just six months to live. But now, 12-year-old Janet Sylva has plenty to look forward to.
NY1 first told you about Janet in December. She wore a scarf to mask the tumor that had been expanding inside her mouth for three years. It had grown to six pounds, the size of a small watermelon, making breathing, speaking and eating difficult.
Although it was not malignant, doctors predicted she would starve to death if it wasn't removed.
After failed attempts at medical care at home in Africa, first in the Gambia and then Senegal, doctors emailed a plea for help to an international surgeons group.
Dr. David Hoffman, an oral surgeon on Staten Island, responded. He assembled a team of highly specialized doctors to help Janet for free.
"I so happy for the doctors. They help me," Janet said.
Surgeons repeatedly practiced with 3-D images of Janet's CAT scans to become familiar with her head, face and tumor.
The 12-hour operation took place in January
"We were very concerned about speech and swallow therapy for her, and in the beginning, of course, it was difficult, but with the therapy and her pushing her way through, she was able to get it back," said Armen Kasabian of the Cohen's Children Medical Center.
"She was a prisoner in her own body," said Dr. David Hoffman of Staten Island University Hospital. "You just wanted to knock on the door and wake her up. And this surgery woke her up!"
That's why the girl, who once avoided making eye contact and hardly spoke a word, couldn't stop smiling and hugging the people who helped her.
Janet and her mother Filomen were brought to the U.S. by the Global Medical Relief Fund, a Staten Island charity that aids critically ill or injured children.
Elissa Montanti helped coordinate Janet's doctor visits and follow up care.
She's become a kind of second mother to Janet and says the girl's transformation has been remarkable.
"She has restored youth and dignity," Montanti said.
Janet is set to return to the Gambia next week. Her doctors haven't ruled out a return trip for some follow-up surgeries. She says she's excited to see her friends, and finally return to school.