BURNED BOY FACES FEAR, WINS; 10-YEAR-OLD MARCHES INTO OPERATING ROOM.

Byline: Steve Carney Daily News Staff Writer

He trembled but didn't cry. Denis Nefedov said he was determined to walk into the operating room on his own Wednesday.

That was a milestone for the 10-year-old Russian boy, severely burned last year in an explosion at his home.

``The first time I was really afraid,'' Denis said. ``This time I was brave, because I knew I had to do it.''

He got the first operation April 5 in a yearlong series at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital to repair his scarred face and hands.

Early Wednesday the latest surgery - this time, on his seared left cheek - was another step in a grueling process.

Denis said he implicitly trusts the surgeons at the Burn Center, but still can't imagine the day when his medical ordeal will finally be over.

``It's too unreal. It's too far in the future,'' he said.

``He wasn't teary-eyed. At this point, he's an old pro,'' said Dr. Peter Grossman, who assisted his father, Richard, in the morning surgery.

When the operations on the boy's cheek are done, Grossman said, he will be able to open his mouth wider, brush his teeth more easily and simply regain some of the animated expressions that the stiff scar tissue held captive.

His mother, Janna Nefedova, said she yearns to see one of the broad grins that she used to get from her tawny-haired son.

``I'm afraid to hope,'' she said. ``I cannot wait for the first smile. It will be like a precious gift.''

The burns occurred one evening early last year, when Denis was home alone and accidentally ignited gasoline fumes in his family's apartment on Sakhalin Island near Japan.

Doctors there didn't have the facilities or expertise to repair his withered features. So with the help of Valley doctors who heard about his case, Denis and his mother came to Sherman Oaks looking for what they're calling a miracle.

The doctors and the Burn Center are donating their services. And the nonprofit Children's Burn Foundation in Sherman Oaks contributed $50,000 toward Denis' treatment and is collecting donations for the family's food, clothes and other expenses.

After his anesthesia wore off Wednesday afternoon, Denis started squirming under the covers and itching his bandages, aching for his next dose of pain medication.

Before his first operation, Denis carried memories of painful treatments he'd endured back home. That combined with his fear of the upcoming surgery, which flowed in torrents of tears.

But this time he said he was careful to go to bed early Tuesday, so he'd be plenty rested for the operation. His mother got no sleep at all.

``I was a nervous wreck,'' she said. ``I was sure it was going to be a successful surgery, but I wanted everything to go well. I kept saying in my head everything is fine, everything is fine.''

The doctors sliced off a layer of scar tissue covering Denis' left cheek and covered it with cadaver skin that will protect the wound and promote blood flow. Next week, when they graft skin from his thigh to create a new cheek, the new, healthy blood supply will help the graft take, Grossman said. The two procedures are identical to operations that already worked for his right cheek.

``He's young, he's healthy - that's a positive,'' Grossman said.

After work on his face, surgeons will resurface his forehead and the top of his nose. That will increase the flexibility in his face. Now he can't even close his eyes fully to sleep, unless he squints very hard, Grossman said. Next they'll go to work repairing his hands, gnarled and stiffened after the explosion.

``What bothered him most right now was his face,'' Grossman said. ``So we did that first.''

HOW TO HELP

To donate or for information, contact the Children's Burn Foundation at Sherman Oaks Hospital, 4929 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403, or call [phone].

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PHOTO Janna Nefedova stays by her 10-year-old son Wednesday after his latest operation to repair severe burns to his face.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Daily News

Box: How to help (see text)