Altus Eye Cancer Survivor Receives Facial Reconstruction

A 16-year-old Altus girl revealed a new look, thanks to a team of specialists at OU Medical Center.

Wednesday, March 24th 2010, 12:29 pm

By: News 9


By Jennifer Pierce, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma teen who once hid her face has revealed it to everyone her newfound confidence. The 16-year-old underwent multiple surgeries to correct what cancer treatment took away.

She says it has changed her life. Laura Bacon spent the last 15 months in and out of facial reconstruction surgery at OU Medical Center.

"I've wanted this for such a long time," Bacon said. 

Looking at her now, you see a happy 16-year-old girl. But it wasn't long ago Bacon hid her face from the world.

"It was easier for me to cover my face, like all the pictures I took you wouldn't be able to see this side," Bacon said.

Behind her hair are the unfortunate side effects of cancer treatment. The radiation killed the tumor behind her eye but it left the right side of her face deformed.

"When she was little and growing and she said kids would make fun and I said maybe it's your badge of courage, but I said we don't put limits on God and we don't know when you're older what's going to be available," Leslie Bacon, Laura's mother, said.

And that's the hope Laura and her family held on to for years.

In December 2008 she underwent her first facial reconstruction surgery. One of the surgeons knew he was in for a challenge the first time he met Laura.

"The most challenging problem we had was that she is just skinny, not a lot of fat," Dr. Ivan Wayne said.

The fat was needed to rebuild and plump her face.

"We used techniques that were largely developed for aesthetic or cosmetic surgery of the aging face and that involves graphing fat from other parts of the body," Dr. Wayne said.

Laura also underwent procedures on her jaw and behind her eye. In all, she had four surgeries, all worth the outcome.

"After her second surgery she was in the mirror and said, 'Oh, I look so pretty' and I said, 'Oh, yes you do' and it just warmed my heart as a mom," Leslie said.

"To me this is just a personal 'Thank you,'" Laura said.

It's a fitting token for the artists who helped create a new Laura.

"I like to look in the mirror now, I like to put on makeup and I'm not scared anymore," Laura said.

Laura says many people didn't even know what the right side of her face looked like because she always covered it with her hair. But she says she has a lot more confidence now and wants to show her face. She's getting a lot of attention and compliments on her new look.

Laura may not quite be done. She may have one more surgery this summer.

More: Girl Granted Restorative Surgery for Christmas

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

March 24th, 2010

March 14th, 2024

December 4th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Top Headlines

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024

March 29th, 2024