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Ed Port to undergo 3rd facial surgery
By Denise Dick
austintowN
The township man who has spent much of his life with tumors obscuring one side of his face will undergo his third surgery to correct the problem next week.
Ed Port, 41, was born with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes large tumors. On Tuesday, Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. McKay McKinnon will operate on him for the third time.
“He’s going to work on my eyelid and do a bone reduction of the cheekbone to make it more even with the right side, and remove the tumors on the back of my head.”
It’s expected to be a five-hour procedure.
It may be the last facial surgery, but another tumor on his left side continues to grow and must be removed.
Port endured several surgeries as a child, but the tumors always returned.
As an adult, the tumors grew to cover the left side of his face, limiting his vision and hearing on that side. For years, though, insurance companies told Port their policies wouldn’t cover the required surgeries because they were considered cosmetic.
That changed about a year ago when Port found a company that so far has agreed to cover a portion of the costs. He also located Dr.McKinnon, who boasts a r sum of successful surgeries on NF patients.
Last June, Port headed to St. Joseph Hospital in the Windy City for his first operation as an adult. It lasted 12 hours, and McKinnon removed part of Port’s skull to be used, along with a titanium plate, to rebuild the facial features.
He spent a few days in intensive care and returned home a few weeks later.
Last October, Port underwent a second surgery when the doctor worked on his left eye and ear, trying to make them more even with the right.
Port lost a lot of blood during the second operation, and it lasted longer than expected.
“The second surgery was only supposed to be six hours, but it took 111/2 because of complications,” Port said.
There were complications with his recovery, too.
An incision behind his left ear healed slowly and then became infected. He spent three months with relatives in Ashtabula County because he couldn’t change the bandages and dress the wound himself.
“It was the longest recovery I think I’ve ever gone through,” Port said.
At one point, Port worried about losing a part of his ear. He admits he grew discouraged.
Preparing for next week’s surgery, however, his optimism has returned.
He says people who haven’t seen him since the fall don’t recognize him. His face is more symmetrical.
“My ear is more normal than it was before,” he said. “It’s not hanging down and stretched out, and he worked on my cheek so it’s more taut.”
A film-production company has been following Port, documenting his story for a possible cable television show. His struggles have been the subject of regional media coverage, and his plight was mentioned in a Vietnamese newspaper.
Donations to Port may be made through his website, www.edneedsamiracle.com.