Pocono News Section

Woman gets special surgery

Woman gets special surgery - Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 5:32PM EST

Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008 @ 05:32pm EST

It's a surgery that could change a woman's life.

A 28 year old Philippino woman will undergo surgery at Geisinger Wyoming Valley on Wednesday.

It will be performed for free.

Lily Mananiti is all smiles the day before her big surgery.

She says, "Never in my wildest dreams that i would be able to come here and have this surgery and remove it. And you know that feeling was just so amazing. I'm just so amazed with everything that is happening in my life."

Mananiti has nasal encephalocele.

It's a deformity she's lived with since birth.

But it will soon change.

Geisinger Wyoming Valley is performing her surgery for free.

Dr. John Cantando of Geisinger Wyoming Valley says, "It's not the most complex brain surgery. It's not the most simple so it's always risky. There's always risks involved and you never take any kind of surgery for granted."

A few years ago, neurologist John Cantando met one of Mananiti's friends, Elvira.

Elvira moved to the u. s. from the philippines .

She told Dr. Cantando about Mananiti's condition.

Many months of planning, and now, Mananiti is here.

Wednesday morning, Dr. Cantando and a plastic surgeon will perform her surgery.

If all goes well, her nose will look normal.

She says, "I think I'll just be the same one, you know. I just have to wear glasses, something like that. You know, I can where those after. And then I'm actually positive that everything will be ok and I'll be back to normal again."

A laid back attitude after her long journey here.

Mananiti's procedure could take up to 7 hours.

She'll recover for about a month after the surgery.

We'll check in with her before she heads back to the Philippines .