Providence performs first ‘Jaw in a Day’ surgery in Oregon
Source: www.kgw.com Author: Brittany Falkers The innovative procedure for patients with oral cancers offers a faster recovery and better cosmetic results. Click here to watch Terry Sambrailo is strolling into the new year with a new perspective on her health. “The worst is all over now, it’s behind me,” she said. Sambrailo lives in Idaho but is staying with friends in Hillsboro while she recovers from a first-in-Oregon procedure for oral, head and neck cancer patients. “I think it’s wonderful and I’m just fortunate that I was a good candidate for it,” Sambrailo said. The 74-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in her left jaw last year. It started with a toothache. “And then another toothache and that’s when we finally did the biopsy and we found out it was more than just tooth. It was the cancer in the bone,” she said. She found a team of specialists and surgeons working through Providence Cancer Institute in Portland with an innovative new procedure called "Jaw in a Day." “It took a heck of a team to do it,” Sambrailo said. Leading that team were Providence head and neck oncologic and microvascular reconstructive surgeons Ashish Patel, M.D., D.D.S., and Baber Khatib, M.D., D.D.S., F.A.C.S. “I think for lack of a better medical word, it is really cool,” Dr. Khatib said. “The technology behind this is phenomenal.” A diagnosis of oral, head or neck cancer can mean a series of surgeries to remove the tumor, rebuild the jaw and teeth and then [...]