much, much sooner than, than just having counseling. she's making herself antisocial. i'm closing the door behind me. i'm at home. i don't want to be a part of that anymore. so that's why i would say her situation is more extreme than other situations. >> reporter: will the people in new york evaluating renata's case agree? >> hello? >> hello, renata? coming up who will be chosen for possibly life-altering surgery? >> oh my god. >> and who won't?

reporter: the foundation that treats children with facial deformities finished evaluating these four cases. >> hello? >> hello, renata? >> yeah? >> my name is diane, and i'm with the little baby face foundation. >> reporter: renata had been waiting anxiously for months, thinking a straighter, smaller nose would silence her bullies

and improve her self-confidence. >> i am looking at your beautiful picture that you sent us, and i just read the beautiful letter that you wrote. i want to invite you to come to new york to see if we could help you. >> are you serious? >> very serious. >> oh, my god. thank you so much. you made me so happy. >> i'm glad you're happy. i can see you smiling right through the phone. >> that was great! >> that was great. it feels great. >> she's going to come out great, too. >> i am so happy, oh my gosh! >> i can't believe we're going. >> i can't believe we got chosen. that is awesome. >> reporter: next, conner. his friends promised to stop making fun of his nose, but will the foundation offer to fix it? >> i have a doctor who's going to work on your cleft lip. and i have another doctor, thomas romo, who's going to do your nose. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. all right, let me talk to your mom so i can explain all this.

>> children that are born with cleft lips, they also have a cleft lip nose deformity and they look like conner. so conner's nose, it wasn't just so much it was big, but his septum was totally obstructing his left airway. and the arch of his nose was totally under supported. >> what are you thinking about? >> new york really, and how i'll look after surgery and everything. >> i was wondering what he was thinking because he wasn't saying much. but i'm sure he was pretty happy. >> congrats, con. i'm happy for you. >> reporter: then, donovan's turn. he asked the foundation for a more prominent chin, but mom thinks he should keep his head up instead. >> how are you? >> pretty good, pretty good. >> i know that you were bullied because of your chin. but i want to tell you something. when i look at this application i see this handsome, 16-year-old guy. and from the pictures that you sent me it really just looks like you just need a very minor cosmetic procedure and it really doesn't fall under our mission

statement for the baby face foundation. >> it's a pretty big disappointment. i guess i can live with it. >> reporter: what was it about him that made you not select him? >> i really felt that his case was cosmetic. and that other children with more severe cases than his. >> reporter: donovan's mom hopes her son will bounce back. >> you have to do a lot of inner soul searching to find that part of you that gives you strength. >> reporter: and finally, cheyenne. >> cheyenne? >> reporter: she's tried to correct her eyes through surgeries before. though she's learned to accept the way she looks, her mom decided to give it one more try. >> this is a difficult case. i'm still looking at that beautiful face but i'm just trying to figure out how our doctors can take care of you. >> reporter: diane told cheyenne her eyes would not be easy to fix. but she also told her to pack her bags. >> yes! >> i just explained to her we've been trying to figure out what we could do to help. that the only way that we'll know is to invite you to new york for a couple of days

and then make a plan. >> okay. >> reporter: opening a closed door can sometimes be overwhelming. >> that would be wonderful. >> reporter: don't cry because if you cry i cry. if i cry my mascara goes. forget it, we're done. >> okay. thank you so much. >> this is the best part of my job making this phone call. >> reporter: how do you feel when your mom gets emotional about stuff? >> don't like it. >> reporter: you don't? how come? >> 'cause, i mean, there's no reason. >> reporter: welcome to new york. renata went directly to her pre-surgery appointment with dr. romo. >> and what we're going to do, is we're going to straighten that septum out, and we're going to take this little thing down and make this whole thing

smaller. okay? >> thank you so much. >> renata, actually, once you pinned her hair back, had a diagnosis, what's called a hemifacial microsomia. >> reporter: and what is that? >> half the face is smaller than the other side of her face. and that's why this nose is leaning to the left. >> reporter: is that an unusual thing? >> it's actually not that unusual. it just doesn't get treated that often. we make a little poke hole here. >> reporter: then, he unveiled his treatment plan. >> so it'll balance her face. >> reporter: and it involved more than just a nose job. he offered renata a new chin as well. >> it's just something i've been thinking about, that we were thinking, something we want to do. >> reporter: wow. we're pointing out something else that she didn't even -- she wasn't even worried about. >> when someone comes in to me about a nose problem, i pin their hair up because i want to look at the whole face. the nose, the eyes, the lips, the jawbone, all have an interrelation. >> do you want to do the thing what he's talking about, the chin? do you understand what he was talking about? >> yeah, i understood. >> what do you think about it? >> it's a big decision.

>> it's a huge decision. >> i don't know what would be better. >> you don't have to. if you don't want to change anything else you don't have to. >> reporter: if you looked at me, and you were to say to me, "hoda, that chin." and i might say, "i think i'm fine with my chin." i promise you, dr. romo, every time i look in the mirror for the next five years, i'd be looking at my chin. because a doctor says there's an issue with it. she's a vulnerable kid, she's going to do whatever you say, period. >> it's the doctor's responsibility to point those out. i know when they're going to have a more successful result. >> reporter: cheyenne spent a full day seeing specialists. at the end of it, dr. romo reported what sounded like disappointing news. >> your eyes, your brows, and your eyelids, could physically be brought up higher. >> yup. >> the problem is you wouldn't be able to close them. >> we couldn't make her eyes actually larger. we couldn't pull her eyelids too tight because she had to close them. >> reporter: but dr. romo still saw a surgical solution. instead of operating on

cheyenne's eyes, dr. romo recommended a nose job and pinning her ears. >> one of the ways to make the eyes look bigger is to make the nose small and deflect the look of where the ears are. and just setting this back so this is less obvious. >> reporter: it seems like it's additional surgery and work that will change, you know, the way your daughter looks. >> first of all, i'm concerned about any surgery. i leave the ultimate decision up to cheyenne because it's her body. >> reporter: what do you feel? >> i know i'm beautiful. but you know, some things you got to change to make yourself even more happy. >> reporter: during connor's evaluation, dr. romo also recommended a new chin to go with a new nose. connor and his mom agreed. >> see how the chin, bringing that out just a bit, it opens the face up. >> reporter: renata decided to take dr. romo's advice, too. >> well, i've decided that i'm going to get the nose and the

chin done. >> i thought i'd just trust him because he knows what he's doing. >> i can't believe we made it here. >> i didn't think we'd come this far. >> this is a big moment. >> i'll see you in a few hours. >> i love you, mom. >> i love you so much. good bye. i love you. good bye, baby. >> reporter: as they headed into surgery, all three imagined sweet dreams. >> surgeon: sweet dreams, cheyenne. >> reporter: not for when they close their eyes, but for when they open them. coming up, the bandages come off. how life has changed for the three who had the surgery and the one who didn't.

time of operation is two hours and 36 minutes. >> reporter: can the confidence and self-esteem of children be

lifted the way a face can? dr. romo says he's not trying to give these kids complete makeovers, but believes small surgical corrections make a big difference. >> the changes are subtle in the eye of the beholder. the children don't consider them so subtle. >> reporter: when we first met renata, she was so self-conscious about her looks that she rarely left her house. >> i don't go to regular school because a lot of the kids just make fun of me, how i look. >> reporter: now she was about to see her new nose and chin without bandages. >> wow. >> isn't that great? >> yeah. >> now it's swollen. it's going to go down. >> you look gorgeous. >> so straight. >> you look gorgeous, renata. >> i really love it. >> it could not be more perfect. >> what a beautiful woman. >> it just looks really amazing.

and i can see the bump is gone and it just looks perfect to me. >> she has not been this happy in years and i just couldn't wish for a better result. parents correct children's teeth with braces to make their teeth straighter. they're still the same kid on the inside but unfortunately people are judged on how they look. and i think that's what happened to my daughter. >> reporter: when we visited renata a few months after her surgery, things had changed dramatically. >> i've been going off the computer a lot more and i've been going out a lot more. >> renata is much more, you know willing to talk to people that she sees and she's just happier in general. >> yes, my daughter's here to see the guidance counselor. >> new enrollment? >> yeah. >> reporter: after nearly three years of home-schooling, renata went back to the classroom, enrolling in her local high school.

>> a lot of people say that high school is the best time of your life, so i wanted to experience that too. >> oh awesome. so you're excited. >> reporter: now in her sophomore year, she's also making new friends. >> i feel happy and i feel confident. and i feel like i don't have to hide myself anymore. >> reporter: and now, connor. he wanted a smaller nose, hoping it would make him less self-conscious around girls. >> think like it affects how i talk with girls because i feel like they'd wouldn't like me because my nose or my appearance. >> reporter: so, he changed his appearance with a new nose and a chin implant. >> it's been about two months since i had surgery and i'm doing really good. no one really said there was a huge difference. they said i look a little different. >> reporter: but connor says he definitely felt different after the surgery. and he saw a difference among his friends, too. though that started happening even before he left for new york. >> yeah, they have stopped giving me a hard time. probably said a couple things, but not like as much as they did before. >> reporter: and then, something

he once thought would never happen. he went to his first school dance with his first real date. cheyenne's case was the most complicated. her eyelids couldn't be pulled any higher. so, the doctors made her nose smaller and pinned back her ears -- all part of the illusion, they hoped, to make her eyes appear larger. >> i love my nose. it was a potato nose as dr. romo called it. this dress is my prom dress. i like the color of it, the style. yeah, i like how my sister did my makeup. the change that i see right now is kind of what i imagined, like i imagined my eyes a little bit wider. but i like it the way it is. >> reporter: the friend most eager to see cheyenne again was savannah. she never thought cheyenne needed surgery, but she liked the results. >> she does look different, but not all that much. which is what i was worried about in the first place.

she was beautiful the way she was, and she still is and the only thing that came out of her going to new york was me missing her. >> reporter: cheyenne says she is, finally, at peace. >> i think i'm done because i like the way i look now. you know if anyone has a problem, i don't care. >> it's going to help them go to college. it's going to help them get a job. it's going to help them be social when they otherwise wouldn't. the bully's going to be left in the dirt. >> reporter: and donovan? he was disappointed when he wasn't chosen. but just a few months after his letdown, he told us he'll had a -- he'd had a profound change, too. he says not being picked for surgery turned out to be a blessing. >> i'm feeling good about it now. i don't have to have surgery after all. and it's just -- it's kind of a weight off my shoulders. >> reporter: in fact, he says, keeping his weaker chin gave him a stronger voice. at school, he started a campaign to raise awareness about bullying, passing out wrist

bands and collecting donations for a local anti-bullying charity. he's already felt the impact on a personal level. >> a lot of people have really opened up to me and apologized for the years. >> reporter: and since then, he's been on a few dates, and even joined his first rock band. >> i learned that there is actually -- there are people who care for me and like me for who i am. >> reporter: mom sue says she couldn't be more proud of her son and his change of heart. >> he's grown stronger, more confident. and i think that's what's going to take him through this world and make him the person, the best person he can be. >> reporter: all the teens we met are happy with the paths they took, though it may take years before they know the lasting effect of having surgery or not. but if there's one thing they can count on today, their teen years, with all that pressure and anguish, won't last forever.

that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. blah this sunday, terror in denmark. two victims it dead and the alleged shooter. >> we feel certain it is a previously motivated attack and therefore it is a terrorist attack. >> one target, a swedish cartoonist on al qaeda's hit list. he survives. but a man shot debt outside a synagogue. we'll have all the latest. and fixing the va. what the agency's new leader has done. >> 900 people have been fired since i've been secretary. >> and what's still ahead, making sure veterans have the care they deserve. plus one year out, we have brand-new numbers in the race for 2016 from first three states that will start the voting. and 40 years of funny.