JACKSON – A 9-year-old township boy received a unique and precious gift during the holiday season, the gift of an ear which was the first step to gaining full hearing.
Masyn Ortiz was born without an outer ear on his right side due to a condition called microtia and atresia. It impacts one in 5,000 boys.
In December he underwent the first of two surgeries at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Romo III who has performed numerous specialized surgeries that have improved the quality of life for children born with facial deformities.
The doctor has donated his surgical talent and time and Masyn was fortunate to gain his help as both his surgeries would not have been covered by his family’s insurance.
Masyn and Dr. Romo came together through a chance occurrence when Masyn’s grandmother happened to see a television program that featured Dr. Romo and his foundation. She watched a segment on another child’s situation with microtia.
His second surgery which will take place after he heals from his first surgery in several months, will involve the insertion of a state-of-the art hearing device which will allow him to hear on his right side. A two-to-three-inch piece of rib cartridge was taken from Masyn that Dr. Romo will use to carve out the ear.
Masyn’s mother, Nicole Ortiz said her son is doing well since the operation that took place on December 18. “Everything has been going great. He healed up very quickly. He loves his ear and he is excited about his next surgery when they will put the hearing device in. Everything went really well.”
Her son is a 4th grader at the Holman Elementary School in Jackson. His grandmother told her daughter to “look it up (meaning Dr. Romo and his Foundation) and I looked it up online and filled out the application the next day. This was around when he was 6, and they did get back to us pretty quickly which was unexpected because they get a lot of applications. At the time they said he was still too small,” Ortiz said.
“When he was 7, they contacted us again, which was right before COVID, so we never got in to see them until they called us in October and everything moved very quickly after that,” she added. “In the first operation they took the rib cartilage and they made a framework and they already put that in.”
“Next time, as it is underneath his skin now, they will release it to make it stick out like a normal ear. The major part is done. Dr. Romo and another doctor will put the hearing device in at the same time. Two surgeons have to coordinate with each other so we’re not sure when this will happen. Whenever they tell us we go,” Ortiz added.
Masyn spoke about school saying he enjoys recess and that “we are learning on the computer and going into school.” He added that he was excited about having his next operation.
“Dr. Romo is really nice and he seems like a good doctor,” Masyn said. His confidence has grown and he is now comfortable with shorter hair that show his new ear. His latest haircut even features “a lightning bolt on the side of my head.”
A close friend and fellow student have also given him support. “He’s been asking me how was my ear and how my stitches are every single day once I get to class,” he said. He has the strong support of his mother, father Daniel Ortiz, his 18-month-old sister and his grandmother Kathy Salvatore.
He’s enjoyed the recent snow storms which have allowed him to play outside. “I was just about to go out but my dad told me I had this interview. It gets tough when you are famous,” he told The Jackson Times.
Dr. Romo’s mission is to make children happy which is something he has accomplished for several years now. The physician, who is originally from Texas moved to New York 30 years ago. He founded the Little Baby Face Foundation 19 years ago.
The Little Baby Face Foundation is a New York City-based charitable organization whose goal is to provide free cosmetic surgery for children born with facial deformities, and/or who are bullied because of their appearance.
Pauline Nicholls, the administrator of the Foundation said they utilize a new model of treatment to help children born with facial deformities, and features such as protruding ears. She said that over the years, “Dr. Romo would go to different places to perform surgeries on children but he wanted to follow up on his patients.”
“Surgery is what I do. Most people go into medicine out of some kind of altruism and a desire to help people. This is a way for me to give back. When I see Pauline and the kids up on stage at an event and they have the confidence to speak in front of a room of people that’s when it gets me that we’ve really done something,” Dr. Romo said. “When the kids send me letters – you know being a parent you want to protect these kids and give them the best start possible. They become family. I watch them grow.”
The physician said that he meets his patients over Skype and in person prior to surgery. “I show an anatomically correct skull and have the kids take it apart understand what’s going on. The parents need support. They’ve not had help. It’s important that they’re confident we will take the best possible care of their child.
“We often have three or four doctors working on a child at once, none of us get the level of service that these volunteer surgeons are willing to give. These are marathons and we are in it with the parents for the long haul. We treat children from birth to 21,” Dr. Romo added.
He described Masyn’s progress as “fantastic! Masyn has such a great spirit and positive outlook. The surgery went very well. Last week he told me he was out on his skate board a week post-surgery which is amazing,” the doctor said.
Dr. Romo said Masyn had a consult concerning the effort to restore his hearing. “It’s a nearly approved kind which we implant under the skin behind his ear (post auricular) using a bone bridge. If he continues to heal as well as he has, two to four months from now depending on his school schedule he will have his second surgery.”
“We will be making an incision for the bone bridge and installing it. Cleaning up some extra skin which was left in place from his original ear site and using that to help push out/away from his head the new ear to match his left ear position. (After a period of healing with the bone bridge) the device can be turned on,” the physician said.
Rather than traveling to third world countries for the treatment of a limited number of conditions, LBFF brings children suffering from all kinds of facial deformities and imperfections to facilities in New York, where physicians and surgeons volunteer their services.
Nicholls said the Foundation partners with Ronald McDonald House which houses patients and their parents during their time at a New York City based hospital.
Dr. Romo said, “I originally went out on mission trips to the former Soviet Union for one or two weeks. The facilities and the equipment was limited and the lack of follow-up was frustrating. By bringing the children and a parent to NYC I can have many more surgeons and specialists donate their time and expertise in state-of-the-art medical facilities.”
“It’s much easier to get a guy to give two hours than two weeks. This work is very meaningful and challenging. The first one of course as we were creating the foundation for indigent children, my first thought about giving back was to treat a native American, he was Navajo from Winslow Arizona, I still have my headdress/ decorated hat he gave me.”
“Terence from Harlem was attending a school for the deaf. We restored his hearing and he heard his name called at graduation and we were there,” the doctor added.
“It’s my honor to do this. My dad was a doctor and I used to make house calls with him he was still checking folks blood pressure into his 80s,” Dr. Romo said. Eighty percent of our kids are from the US.”
Dr. Romo added, “one of the most difficult cases I had was Jared from Patterson, New Jersey. He is a work in progress. So far, we’ve built his ears and installed his hearing aid. He can wear regular glasses now and cut his hair short.”
