To smile again
Kiana Deane, 11, a little tired from being up so early and a little anxious about her surgery, hugs her mom, Robin, as they take the elevator to the operating waiting room at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Kiana and Robin Deane say a prayer before Kiana’s Aug. 15 surgery. Her condition, Bell’s palsy, causes an inability to make expressive gestures with her face, including smiling. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Kiana Deane, whose forehead is marked to indicate which side of her face is normal and which side is paralyzed, waits for her surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Classmates tease Kiana because of her awkward expressions. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Andre Panossian, a plastic surgeon with Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, removes a nerve from Kiana Deane’s leg that will be grafted onto her healthy facial nerve. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
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Robin Deane visits her daughter, Kiana, after Kiana’s first of two surgeries for facial paralysis. Surgeons removed a nerve from her leg and grafted it onto a healthy facial nerve, where it will regenerate. A second surgery in several months will replace the nerve on her paralyzed side with the newly regenerated one. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A note warns against touching by friends and family while Kiana Deane heals from her first surgery for Bell’s palsy. The 11-year-old hopes a second surgery will allow her to smile one day. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
