Happy Ending for Baby Born With Massive Tumor
Surgery saves kid born with unusual growth
Holtz Children's Hospital
Doctors weren't certain Jordan Jamal Smith would survive when he was born with a large tumor in his mouth, but surgery removed the growth and saved the little infant.
The baby born with a massive tumor on his head that doctors had said may have been an undeveloped twin is doing just fine.
Little Jordan Jamal Smith was not expected to live when he entered the world with a two and a half-pound tumor the size of a softball covering his head on March 25, 2009.
Four months into her pregnancy, doctors had told his mother, Kimberly Robinson, that there was something very wrong with the child she was carrying.
Robinson had been told that her unborn child had an undeveloped twin protruding from his mouth and resting just millimeters from his brain. Many physicians said the child likely wouldn't survive birth.
But Dr. Ramzi Younis, an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor at The University of Miami/Jackson Memorial in Miami wasn't ready to give up on Robinson's baby, no matter what was attached to his face.
Though the docs had said the growth was in fact an undeveloped twin, Younis denied the tumor rumor at a press conference earlier today.
"Was it a baby? No," Younis said.
Younis had been in the delivery room as Robinson gave birth, ready to go to work. The doc quickly intubated the baby before the umbilical cord could be cut so that little Jordan could breathe, then performed an intensive surgery to remove the large growth on Jordan's head.
"This is a miracle baby," Younis said.
This type of case happens to about one in 100,000 births.
Jordan has been recovering in the NICU at Holtz Children's Hospital and is expected to lead a normal life.
Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 3:03 AM EST
