South Florida cancer survivor's jaw reconstructed using bone from his leg

THE DOCTORS REBUILT A CANCER SURVIVOR’S JAW USING A PIECE OF BONE FROM HIS LEG. COMPLICATIONS FROM RADIATION SURGERY MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR HENRY BORTHWICK TO EAT AND BRUSH HIS TEETH, BUT JUST A MONTH AFTER HIS SURGERY, HE’S NEARLY BACK TO FULL STRENGTH. TAYLOR HERNANDEZ REPORTS FROM GOOD SAMARITAN MEDICAL CENTER IN WEST PALM BEACH. HENRY BARWICK’S TENNIS RACKET HAS RESTED BELOW HIS LIVING ROOM. TELEVISION FOR MORE THAN A MONTH NOW. WE HAVE A SEVEN, TEN, SIX, SEVEN TENNIS COURTS. WE HAVE FOUR PICKLEBALL COURTS GETTING BACK ONTO THE COURT IS HIS MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE RECOVERY FROM A REMARKABLE JAW RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY. THEY REPLACED A WHOLE SECTION OF MY JAW HERE WITH PART OF THE BONE. THE BONE. FROM HERE, HENRY WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER IN HIS NECK AND TONGUE, NEARLY EIGHT YEARS AGO. WHILE THE DISEASE IS GONE, THE RADIATION TREATMENT LEFT HIM WITH AN INFECTED DISINTEGRATING JAW BONE. THE AVERAGE MOUTH OPENS. LIKE 35MM AT THAT TIME. AT THE WORST, IT WAS LIKE 3 TO 5. SO I COULDN’T EVEN GET, UM, A KIDS TOOTHBRUSH IN MY MOUTH TO HELP HIM EAT NORMALLY. AGAIN. IT TOOK THREE INNOVATIVE SURGEONS, A LOT OF PLANNING, AND TEN HOURS IN AN OPERATING ROOM. THIS IS THE LEG BONE. DOCTORS ANASTASIA QUIMBY AND GERONIMO GUZMAN ARE PART OF HENRY’S MEDICAL TEAM. THEY HARVESTED A PRECISELY MEASURED PIECE OF BONE FROM HENRY’S FIBULA DRILL AND DENTAL IMPLANTS INTO IT, THEN PLACED IT WHERE THAT INFECTED BONE WAS. YOU CAN THINK OF THREE DIFFERENT SURGERIES THAT IS DONE IN ONE, UM, LONG SURGERY. WHEN THOSE DENTAL IMPLANTS WERE PLACED INTO HENRY’S NEW JAW BONE, IT WAS STILL CONNECTED TO HIS LEG FOR BLOOD SUPPLY. AND BECAUSE THE BONE DOCTOR QUIMBY USED IS NOT WEIGHT BEARING, HENRY WAS UP AND WALKING AFTER SURGERY. WE WORK WITH SUTURES THAT ARE PROBABLY AS TINY AS, LIKE ONE OF YOUR STRANDS OF THE HAIR. YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SEE IT WITHOUT THE MICROSCOPE. HENRY IS NOW JUST A LITTLE OVER A MONTH POST-OP, AND IS HOPEFULLY JUST A FEW WEEKS AWAY FROM PUTTING THAT TENNIS RACKET TO USE ONCE AGAIN.

Henry Borowik beat head and neck cancer nearly eight years ago, but complications from radiation left life-changing impacts.“It was three rounds of pretty strong chemo and 35 rounds of radiation on my mouth," Borowik explained.He lived with a feeding tube for more than a year and went through three months of swallow therapy before, eventually, his jawbone got infected as a result of radiation.Surgical innovation: South Florida surgeon uses patient's shoulder bone to reconstruct her face following a deadly car accident“The average mouth opens like 35 millimeters, and at that time, it was like three to five ," he said. "I couldn’t get a kid's toothbrush in my mouth.”He tried antibiotic infusions, but surgery became the only option.“If you are lucky enough to be cancer-free, you accept it because that is just the reality of post-cancer recovery, but then my question is, is there something we can do to make that better," Doctor Anastasiya Quimby said.She, along with doctors Jeronimo Guzman and James Azzi, replaced Borowik's infected jawbone with a piece of bone from his fibula; a non-weight-bearing leg bone.“We borrow the one that doesn’t really participate too much in walking,” Quimby said. Your health: Here’s what you need to knowIt took three surgeons ten hours in the operating room and countless others using a virtual surgical planning software, but a month later, Henry is eating normally.“I show people, and they are all fascinated that this can even be done,” Borowik said.Before it was put in his jaw, dental implants were placed in the harvested fibula bone while it was still connected to Henry's leg to preserve blood supply.“We work with sutures that are probably as tiny as one strand of hair," Quimby said. "You wouldn’t be able to see it without a microscope.”Top headlines:Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25 Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —

Henry Borowik beat head and neck cancer nearly eight years ago, but complications from radiation left life-changing impacts.

“It was three rounds of pretty strong chemo and 35 rounds of radiation on my mouth," Borowik explained.

He lived with a feeding tube for more than a year and went through three months of swallow therapy before, eventually, his jawbone got infected as a result of radiation.

Surgical innovation: South Florida surgeon uses patient's shoulder bone to reconstruct her face following a deadly car accident

“The average mouth opens like 35 millimeters, and at that time, it was like three to five [millimeters]," he said. "I couldn’t get a kid's toothbrush in my mouth.”

He tried antibiotic infusions, but surgery became the only option.

“If you are lucky enough to be cancer-free, you accept it because that is just the reality of post-cancer recovery, but then my question is, is there something we can do to make that better," Doctor Anastasiya Quimby said.

She, along with doctors Jeronimo Guzman and James Azzi, replaced Borowik's infected jawbone with a piece of bone from his fibula; a non-weight-bearing leg bone.

“We borrow the one that doesn’t really participate too much in walking,” Quimby said.

Your health: Here’s what you need to know

It took three surgeons ten hours in the operating room and countless others using a virtual surgical planning software, but a month later, Henry is eating normally.

“I show people, and they are all fascinated that this can even be done,” Borowik said.

Before it was put in his jaw, dental implants were placed in the harvested fibula bone while it was still connected to Henry's leg to preserve blood supply.

“We work with sutures that are probably as tiny as one strand of hair," Quimby said. "You wouldn’t be able to see it without a microscope.”

Top headlines:

Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25

Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.

South Florida cancer survivor's jaw reconstructed using bone from his leg

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