Marlie Casseus, 15, was in stable condition after a nearly nine-hour procedure to reconstruct parts of her face, including her eyes, nose and upper lip.

"I would say that the major reconstruction, the major risk, for surgery ... is already over," said Dr. Jesus Gomez, a University of Miami surgeon who has been involved in the series of procedures.

Gomez said he was pleased with the results of Thursday's surgery at Holtz Children's Hospital, part of Jackson Memorial Medical Center. During the surgery doctors narrowed the separation between Marlie's eyes and formed the bridge of her nose and upper lip, Gomez said. She can now breathe through her nose and close her mouth, though not fully.

Marlie's features were severely misshapen by the growth that began about six years ago, brought about by a rare form of a genetic disease that causes bone to swell and become jelly-like. She was unable to eat or speak when she arrived in the United States in September, and doctors inserted a tube to help her breathe.

Marlie suffers from polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, a nonhereditary, genetic disease. When she first came to the U.S., the painful mass on her face had become so large it began crushing her breathing passage and threatened to blind her.

Going into her first surgery in December, her eyes, nostrils and a single tooth were her face's only recognizable features. Doctors removed the mass in two stages during that 17-hour surgery and a nearly nine-hour surgery in January. Remnants of the mass that were deep in her face were also removed during the latest surgery, Gomez said Friday.

During previous operations doctors rebuilt the interior of her nose and inserted metal plates to reconstruct her lower eye sockets as well as a plate to recreate the joint that allows her to open and close her mouth.

Marlie will likely still need two more major surgeries as well as dental reconstruction, Gomez said. Future surgeries will work on her jaw and improve her profile, and doctors still have to remove her breathing tube and one that feeds her. Gomez estimated that the total cost of the operations would be around $500,000.

Donors have given Holtz's International Kids Fund, which seeks to provide medical care for needy children from around the world, approximately $300,000 for Marlie, but the fund is asking for donations to continue her care, said its director Maria Luisa Chea. The Haitian nonprofit Good Samaritan for a Better Life helped bring her to the United States.

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