Whoever Dreamed Juliana Could Go To School?

By Jeannie Blaylock First Coast News

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A knock on the door. A couple of butterflies. (Actually a lot of butterflies.) The door opens and a teacher smiling ear to ear says, "Look who's here! Juliana! We've been waiting for you!"

Then the classic Juliana moment happens. She hugs another total stranger. It's her typical reaction to just about everyone she meets. It gives the butterflies in Mom and Dad a bit of a hush.

But Thom and Tami Wetmore already knew Juliana and her new teacher would be just fine. That's not the part of this brand new experience which worries them. It's the other children. What will they say when they see Juliana?

Juliana is known around the world now as the "Girl Born Without a Face." Her latest milestone is going to school. In March she'll start in a special class at Fleming Island Elementary in Clay County. The trip we saw was her first time to walk into her own classroom and meet the other boys and girls.

So back to the nervous stomachs. Juliana's parents have endured everything from friendly hugs to horrifying reactions when they take Juliana around town. They say our news coverage over the last year has helped. But every so often there's a cruel comment. One little girl even ran away when she looked at Juliana.

But Fleming Island worked hard to prepare their students to welcome Juliana without judgment. They showed our videos to the entire school and explained what's special about her. That must have helped because when Juliana walked in you couldn't sense any bad feelings.

Juliana's teacher showed her a place to play and within minutes Juliana was talking on a pretend phone and driving a car. We didn't notice any other child even flinch. One little boy asked about the blue tubes in Juliana's nose to help her breath. A quick explanation and that was it.

Juliana's mom, Tami, said, "I was more nervous about the reaction from the kids." But she says it was the best reaction by far they've gotten from this age. Juliana's dad was pretty fired up, too. "I'm excited!" he said.

One little boy, Nathan, seemed to have a special heart for Juliana. He helped put a white apron over her head. He even chose Juliana with a magic wand in a friendship circle. I'm trying with words to describe the kids' interaction. But if you truly want to soak it in play our video story and just watch.

In case you're not familiar with Juliana's story by now she was born with Treacher Collins syndrome. She's missing roughly half the bones in her face. It's a genetic defect. And doctors say there's no record of anyone else in the world with Juliana's form of Treachers.

School, at least so far, is obviously a big victory for Juliana. But in March she'll return to Miami for her 21st surgery. Doctors will shorten the tubes in her nose and find out if a special bone growth substance called BMP is working. The hope is the BMP is closing up the holes in her skull.

The road for Juliana is still a long one. Thom explains, "I'd say she's 10-15% through with her surgeries." The goal is to get her breathing on her own without a trach. Her family is also hoping she'll be able to swallow so she want need a tube in her stomach anymore.

What's her biggest accomplishment over the last few months? Her parents say she isn't taking off her hearing aid so much. She's truly communicating. Thom says, "Exponentially, her learning curve is going straight up and to see her being more normal I can't put into words. I just get giddy! Look what's she's doing!"

She can sign more than 50 words now. You'll see her progress when you watch the video story.

Juliana will turn 3 in March. When she was born her family wasn't sure she'd even survive one night. So her progress is easy to see. On the other hand, the road ahead seems daunting.

Still, though, Thom is grateful. "I think God's just giving us a great life." But isn't there ever anger with God? (Why us and not someone else?) Thom has a quick answer for those questions. It happened, he says, "to make you stronger and show the world it can be done."

He says, "I think what's important for everyone when they see another human is it's not the face on the outside." It's the person inside.

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