If you’ve been following the story of famed movie critic Roger Ebert, you know about his illness and the disfiguring changes that occurred in his face. “After surgery, I studiously avoided looking at myself in a mirror” he writes in a recent blog post.

But things may be getting better for the famous critic. In the same post, he describes a facial reconstruction procedure that was carried out by Dr. David J. Reisberg of Chicago.

The doctor created a facial prosthesis that fits over Ebert’s neck and chin. With matching skin color and soft silicone construction, the device helps restore a natural facial appearance.

“Symbolically, it’s as if my illness never happened and, hey, here I still am, on the show with these new kids,” he writes.

Read his blog on the Chicago Sun Times website.