The 12-hour procedure was performed at Lenox Hill Hospital on June 23.
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Negalem had a benign growth known as a vascular malformation, which started developing rapidly after she was born.
If the tumor was not removed, Negalem would suffocate or starve, due to the inability to swallow.
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She also faced the danger of having the tumor rupture.
Negalem did not have access to advanced medical care in Ethiopia, but fortunately, a U.S. government official took her under his wing while he was on a mission in Africa.
After researching doctors, the government official found Dr. Teresa O and Dr. Milton Waner, a married couple and one of the few surgical teams in the world specializing in complex pediatric vascular malformations.
"This is why I became a doctor," Dr. Waner said. "Clearly we help people every day, but this was on such a grand scale."
Dr. O and Dr. Waner agreed to take on Negalem's surgery, while Lenox Hill and Northwell Health covered all hospital costs and post-surgical care.
"Prior to surgery, we were extremely nervous about this, wondering how we would get around this," Dr. Waner said. "This is no walk in the park."
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On a scale of one to 10 in terms of being a complicated procedure, they said this was a 12. Dr.0 Robert Rosen prepped the mass, and then during the surgery, centimeter by centimeter, they removed the benign growth.
It was the size of a cantaloupe, and they had to be careful not to damage vital blood vessels, nerves and muscles.
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"The good news is that everything worked out, and all the pieces came together in the end," Dr. O. said.
Nagalem will undergo a second procedure to remove a small segment of the mass that's still under her tongue.
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The family is slated to return home on July 14, and doctors say the remaining swelling will go down over the next few months.
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