A long-awaited operation has given 25-year-old Michael Mahlangu, who has a rare birth deformity, a new lease on life.
Mahlangu who has the Pierre Robin Sequence – a condition characterised by an underdeveloped jaw, a displacement of the tongue and upper airway obstruction – underwent the operation he has been waiting for since 2018, thanks to Sunday World for highlighting his plight.
He even dropped out of his electrical engineering studies at Ekurhuleni West TVET College.
On May 31, doctors at the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Oral and Dental Hospital performed the almost two-hour operation on Mahlangu to mend complications resulting from another operation they performed on him in 2017. He has been a patient of UP’s Oral and Dental Hospital since 1998 as a new-born.
Mahlangu, who lives in Thembisa on the East Rand, had constant pain, suffered from debilitating headaches and puss oozed out of one of his cheeks. His facial deformity, compounded by the puss, made him an outcast who could not even go to places that sold food, which
affected his self-esteem and mental health.
Almost a month after the operation Mahlangu said that he now sleeps like a baby for the first time in long time.
“I can eat. I have no pain in my mouth. I have no headaches. I’m so happy,” he said. “My jaw feels loose but I’d rather have this feeling than the pain that had been part and parcel of my life.”
According to Mahlangu, who celebrated his birthday last week, doctors told him that the joint had shifted a while ago and some of the screws were loose.
In the 2017 operation, two joints were placed in Mahlangu’s mouth to reconstruct his jaws. One of the joints was removed in 2018 when he developed complications from the operation. The second joint was supposed to have been removed soon after that, but he was sent from pillar to post until Sunday World published his story.
Mahlangu’s parents, Evah and Paulus Mahlangu, are also grateful that their son has some semblance of a normal life again.
Evah said she had lost count of the number of operations her son went through.
“At some point, I refused that he undergo further operations and the hospital had to wait until he was old enough to give consent before they operated on him again.”
“I didn’t think he would be healthy again. I was scared he was going to take his life because he was now living a very secluded life. I felt helpless watching my son sinking deeper and deeper into a miserable life of pain and separation from others because of his condition,” she said.
Head of department of maxillofacial and oral surgery at UP’s School of Dentistry Prof Mzubanzi Mabongo said Mahlangu is booked to return to the hospital on July 21 for a review. “The patient visited the facility on 15/05/2023. We assessed and admitted Mr Mahlangu for a CT scan, and took him to the theatre for the removal of the TMJ [emporomandibular joint] prosthesis,” he said.
“Mr Mahlangu was reviewed after the procedure and is booked for review on July 21,” he said.
Mahlangu has been applying for internships and is looking forward to completing his studies.
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