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When Vintavius Washington was born four years ago with severe facial deformities, his mother refused to believe that he could not have a normal life.
Diagnosed with a combination of rare deformities, including facial clefting, orthopedic problems, skull deformities, and an extremely wide space between his eyes, Vintavius underwent his first surgery when he was just six months old.
At the time of Vintavius' birth, the family was living in Jackson, Mississippi. His parents, Vincent and Cherie, began looking for someone who could help their son and were referred to a craniofacial physician in Tacoma, Washington. Upon meeting him, they moved to Tacoma so that Vintavius could be near his physician during treatment.
After that first surgery, Ms. Washington was "amazed," noting that, "The physician repaired Vintavius' cleft lip, soft palate and his leg. The results were very good."
The Washingtons were told that they would have to wait until Vintavius was 3 years old for more extensive surgery. During that time, however, the surgeon retired.
"I was so disappointed," remembered Ms. Washington, "but we decided to follow a referral which led us to Seattle last April. The physician there did major surgery to rebuild the bridge of Vintavius' nose, reconstruct his eye sockets, and reconstruct his forehead. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed with those results.
"I called my mom crying and wondering what to do," related Ms. Washington. "At that point all I wanted was to get my son as normal looking as he could be."
It was a chance meeting at a gas station which was the turning point for Vintavius. The youngster and his grandfather were traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas. A stranger approached the pair and told them he noticed Vintavius' facial problems. He told them that a physician in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a Dr. Larry Sargent, had worked wonders on other children and might be able to help Vintavius.
When she contacted The Tennessee Craniofacial Center and looked at the results that Dr. Sargent had experienced with other patients, Ms. Washington became very excited as she realized that she had finally found a physician who could treat her son.
"We were planning to go back to Washington, but we were so happy with Dr. Sargent that we decided to move to Red Banks, Mississippi so that we could be closer to him," said Ms. Washington.
Ms. Washington is excited about the first of several surgeries scheduled for Vintavius at Erlanger Health System on February 13. Dr. Sargent will perform an extensive craniofacial procedure with Dr. Tim Strait, neurosurgeon, in a surgery which will take more than 10 hours. Vintavius' operation will move his eyes closer together and contour his forehead. Although her son may never be completely "normal," Ms. Washington remains optimistic that Dr. Sargent's expertise will make an extraordinary difference.
"We have total confidence in Dr. Sargent's work. I can hardly wait to see the results of the surgery; it's been a long road but Vintavius is worth it. We have faith in God, and we know that He'll see us through this," said Ms. Washington.
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