Page 25 - University Health Network 2017-18 Year In Review

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Social @ UHN Not just a reason, but the ability, to

smile again

In the past year, our
content was displayed Whether unconsciously or reflexively, it happens With the symptoms getting worse, her family doctor
more than eight without much thought: the corners of your mouth ordered an MRI that came back with serious news:
million times across turn up and you smile, communicating happiness in there was a large mass in her brain that was eventually
8,255,912 one of its purest forms. diagnosed as an acoustic neuroma, also known as a
our three platforms.
vestibular schwannoma, where a tumour grows on the
Impressions What seems like a simple movement of the mouth main nerve from the inner ear to the brain.
relies on facial muscles working together with
networks of nerves that are responding to information Anastasia was referred to neurosurgeon Dr. Fred
University Health Network from the brain. If that system goes offline, your smile Gentili at Toronto Western Hospital (TW) where
@UHN can be lost along with the ability to control your face. the good news was that these types of tumours were
benign, but she would need extensive surgery to
UHN ranked No. 1 in Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals But through a technique pioneered in Toronto, remove it which would result in her losing the hearing
for 2017. Research Infosource Inc. found UHN spent $332 smile reinnervation or smile surgery, is giving adults in her right ear.
million on research in the year ending March 31, 2017. suffering from facial paralysis new hope on regaining
Popular https://bit.ly/2wfcI7m the function of their face. “I wasn’t ready for something like this,” recalls
in November Anastasia Fernandes, 32, knows how it feels to lose Anastasia. “You always feel somewhat untouchable

the ability to smile. In late 2015, the then-newlywed as a person, especially when you’re young, and I had
never been sick. So it almost didn’t register with me
was still suffering from constant headaches and facial that the tumour was benign because it was so hard to
numbness that she had earlier attributed to the stress be told that I would lose my hearing.”
of planning a wedding.
141 Likes Link to full story: click here.

Other UHN News headlines

3 Comments Michener Institute named an accredited

provider of continuing professional
development

A good catch: helping an elderly couple
Other UHN News headlines get to Toronto General Hospital safely

Michael Burns named President &
• Michener valedictorian hoping to inspire future engineering and healthcare professionals CEO of The Princess Margaret Cancer
Foundation
• Ride rockets into the record books

• UHN Refresh Program strives to bring wellness to the workplace Dr. Heather Baltzer (C), a hand surgeon with the Hand and Upper
Extremity Transplant Program at Toronto Western Hospital, is one of
few surgeons in Canada who can offer the smile reinnervation surgery
to adults. (Photo: UHN)

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