2019 Madelyn Nicpon

Name:                                     Madelyn Nicpon

Type of Donation:             Tissue recipient

Age and Location:             Age 17 – Suffern, NY

Transplant Date:                 5/4/2017

Sponsor:                               Honored by AxoGen

MADIE’S STORY

Madelyn (Madie) Nicpon was a high school sophomore in January 2017 when she underwent a routine surgery to have her wisdom teeth removed. Her mouth was numbed as part of the procedure. Several days later, however, the right side of her tongue remained numb. Madie, an outgoing and athletic honor roll student, had difficulty speaking without a lisp and was repeatedly biting her tongue while eating. The repeated biting was causing significant damage to her tongue and Madie often had blood dripping from her mouth. Blood would gush from the deep holes her biting created and she would often need to leave class to stop the bleeding. It was embarrassing and disruptive to both her studies and social activities. Additionally, as an avid lacrosse player, Madie feared she would bite her tongue during play and cause further damage.

Madie and her parents soon learned that the persistent numbness in her tongue was the result of damage to her lingual nerve, the nerve that provides sensation to the tongue. The nerve had been damaged during the procedure to remove her wisdom teeth.

Madie underwent surgery to repair her lingual nerve in May 2017 and, thanks to a donor’s gift of tissue, her damaged nerve was repaired using a processed nerve allograft. The donated tissue ultimately allowed Madie’s lingual nerve to regenerate, restoring sensation to her tongue. Today Madie is back to organizing class activities, is academically at the top of her class, and will play lacrosse for a top-tier university in the Fall of 2019.