
When Susannah Morgan realized that an operation to take away a benign tumour in her neck might go away her with a crooked smile she was “frantic”.
The 45-year-old was suggested to have it eliminated in case it turned cancerous however she was warned the surgical procedure would additionally go away her with a dent in her neck and attainable paralysis.
Determined to keep away from being completely disfigured, she researched options and found a brand new method utilizing a hologram which might save her smile.
Final month the mother-of-one, from Edinburgh, turned the primary individual to endure the pioneering operation in Scotland.

She was initially advised that, to take away the pleomorphic adenoma, surgeons must lower out her largest salivary gland, which accommodates the facial nerve.
However the brand new hologram method permits surgeons to pinpoint the precise location of the facial nerve, leaving much less probability of it being severed.
It additionally permits surgeons to open up the salivary gland, quite than take away it.
Susannah paid to have a hi-tech MRI scan in London, which produced a hologram.
It was then utilized by Iain Nixon, the surgeon who carried out the operation, in Livingston, West Lothian, final month.
“Iain has saved my smile, I am so grateful to him” Susannah advised ORIONEWS Scotland Information.
“I really feel on prime of the world, I am on a excessive and it is giving me an actual buzz.”

When she woke from surgical procedure, Susannah’s smile was crooked – however medics defined this was momentary as a result of the facial nerve needed to be moved to get to the tumour.
“I cried after I noticed my squint smile straight after the surgical procedure so to suppose it might have been everlasting if Iain hadn’t used this pioneering method does not bear excited about,” she stated.
“He needed to raise the facial nerve, which is sort of a advantageous little bit of spaghetti, to get to the tumour and since he needed to man-handle it they are saying it will get bruised in order that weakens it quickly.”
She stated if it had been lower accidentally through the operation then she would have had everlasting paralysis in her face.
The brand new hologram method made it much less possible the surgeon would have an accident.

Susannah first went to the physician on the finish of November 2022 after discovering a lump beneath her ear.
Nevertheless, the coaching physician thought it was only a salivary stone and she or he was advised to eat bitter sweets to get the salivary juices going.
“It is such a uncommon factor I’ve acquired that plenty of GPs do not find out about it and I had bloods taken and so they have been all advantageous so it was simply dismissed.
“I did not suppose an excessive amount of of it as a result of I simply thought it was a bit swollen and did not suppose it was a tumour.”
However then it began rising and she or he might see it bulging out of her neck till it reached 3.5cm (1in) so she returned to the physician a yr later.
“I used to be actually shocked after I was advised it was a tumour. I used to be relived to listen to it was benign however he advised me if he did not get it out it might flip cancerous.”
“Some folks selected to not have surgical procedure as a result of it is actually scary to have surgical procedure in your facial nerve as a result of there may be plenty of danger to it.”

Mr Nixon, Susannah’s surgeon, stated folks have six main saliva glands and Susannah’s tumour was on the most important one beneath the ear.
“That is pioneering know-how and is permitting a extra minimally invasive strategy to tumour surgical procedure which may be fairly disfiguring and this heralds the potential of surgical procedure with a decrease facet impact profile because of this.
“With a conventional operation you raise up the pores and skin and you have to watch out in order that you do not harm the nerve as a result of you recognize it have to be shut.
“But when you recognize the place it’s earlier than you begin you may be way more assured and extra focused.
“That’s the benefit of this pioneering know-how and it makes it even safer.”
He added that the operation had saved her smile and stopped her having a dent in her neck.
“It is extremely thrilling and I feel it will turn out to be normal process sooner or later.”