Little Girl Born With No Lower Jaw Bone Endures 11 Operations To Rebuild Her Face, What Happen Next Is Shocking

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Lexi Melton (pictured), 7, suffers from a rare genetic condition called auriculocondylar syndrome - which means that she was born with a healthy body and brain, but without a lower jaw

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Over the past seven years, a team of doctors from Seattle Children's Hospital has worked to reconstruct her lower jaw through 11 arduous surgeries - and the little girl will need at least three more in the future.

Doctors noticed something was amiss nearly 28 weeks into Mrs Melton's pregnancy.

She had given birth to a healthy baby boy, Josh, just 16 months earlier but this time, something was different.

Scans revealed the unborn baby was unable to swallow Mrs Melton's amniotic fluid, causing a fluid build-up in her uterus.

A team of medical experts from Seattle Children's Hospital revealed Lexi was suffering developmental problems with her jaw that was stopping her from swallowing.

They warned that the problem would prevent her from being able to breathe on her own after birth.

Mrs Melton, 46, told Daily Mail Online: ‘It was very terrifying. The doctors were pretty optimistic about her ability to survive but of course nobody could give any guarantees.'

Lexi was born six weeks early on November 18, 2008 with her lower jaw completely missing.

Doctors determined that the little girl was suffering from a rare congenital condition called auriculocondylar syndrome.

Her body and mind were 'normal' but because of two faulty genes, her jaw was malformed.

Dr Richard Hopper, division chief of plastic surgery and surgical director of the Craniofacial Center at Seattle Children's, is one of the doctors who has cared for Lexi over the years.

He told Daily Mail Online: 'We're one of the largest craniofacial centers in the world and we've only seen this three times.'

In total, there has been 24 reported cases of auriculocondylar syndrome ever, he said.

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Lexi had been unable to breathe on her own because her air tube was blocked. She had to breathe through a tracheostemy tube for the first several years of her life, which also left her unable to speak. But, the tube was removed last year - and she has been speaking and breathing on her own ever since.

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Lexi's mother Lisa (pictured center, with son Josh, left, and Lexi) had an easy pregnancy until about 27 weeks in - when doctors realized the baby was unable to swallow amniotic fluid because of an issue with her jaw.

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Doctors warned Mrs Melton and her husband, Dave, that the baby would not be able to breathe on her own. When Lexi was born weeks later, a team from Seattle's Children whisked her away to surgery.

Furthermore, Lexi had continual health problems between surgeries - because of both her tracheostomy tube and time spent in the hospital.

Mrs Melton said: ‘There were issues with respiratory illnesses and infections, and things that randomly come up when you have a lot of hospital time and complex presentation.'

It's now been two years since Lexi's last surgery to reconstruct her jaw.

Because the lower jaw was malformed, Lexi was not born with typical jaw joints.

We're one of the largest craniofacial centers in the world and we've only seen this three times

Dr Richard Hopper, Seattle Children's Hospital

At the moment, she has limited mobility in her jaw helping her speak but not enough so that she can chew food.

She currently has a feeding tube in her stomach from which she receives nutrients each day.

And so, her next surgery in 2017 will be dedicated to the jaw joints.

Dr Hopper said: ‘The next stage of surgeries is to reconstruct those joints so she has more opening and closing ability.'

Lexi will have to undergo additional surgeries for roughly the next decade until she stops growing at around the age of 17.

Her reconstructed lower jaw will not be able to grow with the rest of her body, Dr Hopper explained.

He said: ‘The big surgery she had gave her a very pronounced jaw her mother, Lexi and I joke is kind of a Jay Leno jaw because we needed to give her an older jaw than she needed at that age, because we know she's going to have to outgrow it.'

After the surgery to reconstruct her joints, Lexi will likely undergo at least two additional surgeries to increase the size of her lower jaw to match the rest of her body.

Dr Hopper noted: ‘After that it will become more routine procedures.'

But despite all she has undergone, Lexi has always exhibited a lust for life, according to her mother.

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Since then, Lexi has undergone numerous procedures to reconstruct her jaw - and has a long road of additional surgeries ahead. The little girl's jaw cannot grow on its own, so she will undergo several surgeries to lengthen her jaw until her body stops growing around age 17 or 18

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Despite everything, Lexi in many ways remains a normal girl. Close to her brother and friends, Lexi loves to play - and has what her mother describes as a 'spunky, outgoing' personality that has always shined through.

Mrs Melton said: 'There were definitely times during all of the medical stuff that she was just really distraught from pain and not understanding what was happening and such.

‘But she always hung in there and would bounce back and I think that is just such an inspiring piece of her.'

As she's been able to speak and play more on her own, Lexi's personality has become more and more apparent, according to her mother.

The mother-of-two said: ‘She is super spunky and outgoing. When she walks into the room people notice her she has long, super cruly hair, and she jumps and dazzles into the room.'

Lexi is quite outspoken, opinionated and independent, as well.

Mrs Melton said: ‘She's has a very strong sense of what she wants to do and who she is.

‘That's something that can be challenging as a parent but as we know, is a huge gift for her.

‘It's something that's going to see her through all of these challenging situation.'

Her mother added that she and Lexi's father Dave would not have made it through all of these tough times without the help of Seattle Children's.

The 46-year-old. added: ‘The medical team at Seattle Children's were so responsive and supportive and listened carefully to everything we had to say.'

‘When we were feeling depleted and down, they gave us the energy and new ideas to make us feel better and help turn the situation around.'