Leya’s Blog

Hi, my name is Leya Khan. I’m 16 years old, and I’m a Junior in High School. I love to run and eat pasta. I was born with both jaw and ear deformities on my right side. For as long as I could remember, I’ve had surgery after surgery. In total, I’ve had approximately 30 surgeries. Yup, you read that right. I’ve had about 30 surgeries in the past 16 years of my life. Fortunately, if everything goes well, I’m only expected to have 1 or 2 more surgeries. I guess you can say that I’ve experience a lot in 16 years than most people do in their whole life time. That’s insane! Although, because of that, people always asked me the same questions: How do you get through it all? How has it changed your life? Being born with craniofacial anomalies has changed my life several ways. I guess you can say that having surgery after surgery really changes the way you value the things that yourself and others go through. You come to realize, that not everything is what is seems. The kind of life I’ve had, has built my character is so many ways: I like to think that the amount of surgeries I’ve had has mad me more mature, brave and most importantly, very strong- minded. My condition has given me the ability to be incredibly strong minded, and I never think twice about standing up for myself and others, because there’s nothing wrong with being different. Thankfully, that’s something I will always hold close to me.

Although my craniofacial deformities changed my life in many ways, there’s no way I could get through any of it without the people I’m around. Like any other teenager, I can be completely stubborn when it comes to my parents, but I could not get through anything without them. They are my rock, without them I would probably go crazy. I honestly wouldn’t know how to handle surgery after surgery without them. Quite frankly, they just love and understand me. Then there’s my brothers, they are always there to help and support me when it comes to recovering from surgeries. There is no doubt that, although I’m the one that has craniofacial deformities, it affects my whole family. Finally, there’s the doctors that have been operating on me for as long as I can remember, the doctors at Next Gen Face and beyond have treated as more than a statistic or number, but as a normal teenage girl who had dreams and aspirations. My doctors have constantly been there for my family and I, they understood what we were going to through and they are always determined to make me feel extremely comfortable, calm, and confident before every single surgery. I will forever be grateful for my amazing doctors, families, and friends.

Hope you enjoyed my blogpost!

Sincerely,

Leya Khan