The past three months for Tania Regalado Sanchez have been marked with pain and excitement.

The 9-year-old from Ecuador who caught the attention of local doctors and philanthropists on a medical mission there more than a year ago, arrived in the Coachella Valley in late July and leaves Tuesday with a new face and perspective on life.

Sanchez was born with a facial deformity called hemifacial microsomia and as a result, was missing her left jaw and ear, and what should be her earlobe sat underneath her cheek.

She often drew stares.

After two major surgeries and lots of intense doctor's visits, however, normalcy has been restored to her face.

“She has facial symmetry. Now the left and right look the same. Now she can pursue her life dreams without having to first explain what's going on with her face,” said Dr. Peter Scheer, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon with an office in Rancho Mirage, who conducted the operations free of charge.

He met Tania in Ecuador while on a medical mission organized through the International Medical Alliance, a not-for-profit organization based in Rancho Mirage.

Not able to afford medical attention, Tania sought help for her deformity from the group.

In July, the medical organization brought Tania and her older sister, Maria Moran, back with them so Tania could get the proper attention here she couldn't get back home.

“I'm going to miss them. It's so hard. They've become part of my life,” said Scheer on Friday during a checkup with Tania.

He plans to stay in touch with Tania and Moran via e-mail until he visits them in April for a follow-up.

Her first surgery on Aug. 27 at Desert Regional Medical Center took more than 9 hours during which Scheer harvested bone from her ribs and pelvis bone to reconstruct the left side of her face.

During a more than five hour surgery on Oct. 16 at his office, Scheer then took fat from her belly to fill out her face, removed the earlobe tag that sits at the bottom of her cheek and installed a prosthetic where her left ear should be.

In eight months, following his April checkup, he will visit Tania again for a third operation in Ecuador during which he will take skin from her thigh and cover it over the architecture of the external ear prosthetic.

“This girl is amazingly resilient to go through all this. Her attitude is beautiful,” Scheer said.

Tania and her sister are pleased with the results.

“I feel better,” said Tania on Friday.

“To see the before and after. It's a fantastic change,” said Moran.

Moran was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for Tania who was showered with gifts and attention from local organizations, the medical community and valley residents.

Words can't describe, she said, how grateful she is to everyone involved.

“Now I know everyone has a place in heaven,” she said.

Tania said she looks forward to seeing her friends. She's only missed one month of school and is eager to return to the sixth grade.

She will miss her surrogate family in the Coachella Valley though who provided a home and comfort.

“We're going to miss them a lot. They became part of the family,” said Ines Allen, the president of International Medical Alliance, the organization that toiled to bring Tania to the United States.

“Even though it was hard for her and she went through a lot of pain. It's going to change her life. She's going to live a normal life now,” said Allen.