3D computer plan helps to re-build cancer dad’s jaw
ADAD has had his jaw re-built after cancer with revolutionary surgery using bone from his leg and 3D computer planning.
Robert Hope, of Clayton-le-Moors, has praised East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust for going over and beyond with his treatment and says he is amazed at the results.
Robert, who is married to Sally and has a daughter Catherine and son Thomas, was first diagnosed with cancer affecting his jaw in 2013 after his dentist was unhappy with white lesions in his mouth and referred him to specialists.
The self-employed joiner, 52, had surgery to remove the tumour at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and was back at work fitting windows just 11 days later with staples in his neck.
After radiotherapy and a course of chemotherapy a few months later life had returned to normal for Robert – but then four years later, his eagle-eyed dentist spotted the telltale signs that the cancer had returned.
Consultant and reconstruction surgeon Naseem Ghazali said: “The cancer was now affecting Robert’s lower jaw while before it was his upper jaw.
“As his first cancer was quite aggressive, he had needed radiation afterwards and all the area where the new cancer was had been previously radiated.
“This presented a problem as radiation causes a lot of scarring and this meant the tissue and blood supply would not be as good.
“I needed to think about how to re-build Robert’s jaw.”
She added: “It was not just the bone that Robert was losing but the gum and a bit of the cheek so I needed bone and soft tissue.
“The only way I could do that was to use some of his leg bone and the skin next to it to re-build the jaw and I took a blood vessel too.”
Miss Ghazali worked with medical engineers to mastermind the surgery, which took around 10 hours, using 3D surgical technology planning.
Grateful Robert is delighted at how the procedure went.
He said: “I lost my incisor teeth, my molars and wisdom teeth and all my jaw.
“I was worried about what my visual appearance would look like and whether I would be able to talk or eat.
“I was also concerned about whether I would be able to cycle as I am a keen cyclist.
“The end result is amazing. I can talk and eat and ride my bike and live life as normal. I look a bit different but nothing startling or noticeable.
“I wasn’t expecting to look this good!”