Youssif's surgeon, Dr. Peter Grossman, has started putting in the permanent skin grafts which will help heal the damage done to the child's burned face. Dr. Grossman should know by the end of the week if the grafts are successful. Via CNN:

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- "Don't be afraid, I'm just going to get my operation done and then I'll be home with you."

Those are the words of 5-year-old Youssif to his mother the night before his second surgery.

The next morning Youssif was wheeled into the operating room, tightly clutching his father's hand and crying slightly, but putting on a brave front.

Youssif's second surgery lasted three hours. A team of surgeons, led by Dr. Peter Grossman, Monday removed the temporary cadaver skin they had placed Thursday on Youssif's scarred face. They replaced the skin with a full tissue skin graft taken from Youssif's abdomen.

Grossman said that before the end of the week he will have an idea whether the grafts have taken, but doctors will not know for another couple of weeks whether the grafts are surviving.

For now, Youssif will have respite from the operating table, but the long process of healing this horribly scarred child is in its initial stages. Insurgents in Baghdad doused Youssif in gasoline and set him on fire early this year.

"He'll go through a period of time now which will allow him to heal," Grossman said. "We've done a lot of surgery on him in the last week, and we want him to rest up a bit, but starting probably the week after next we'll begin the expansion process."

The expansion process involves gradually inflating tissue expanders -- balloon-like modules -- that were inserted in Youssif's right cheek and under his chin on Thursday. Saline will inflate the balloons to create extra skin over the next few months. The doctors will then use the skin on Youssif's scars.

Continued prayers for Youssif and his family, and for the medical team that is working so hard to give this little boy a chance at a normal life.

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