First face Transplant

[Roenick]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/17/face.transplant/index.html

On Wednesday, Siemionow, the head of plastic surgery research at the Cleveland Clinic, is expected to announce the completion of another complex surgery -- a near-total face transplant.
The face transplant surgery done two weeks ago by a team of eight surgeons at the Cleveland, Ohio hospital, is the first of its kind conducted in the United States.
In the surgery, 80 percent of the female trauma patient's face was transplanted, a Cleveland Clinic (http://topics.cnn.com/topics/The_Cleveland_Clinic/) spokeswoman said. The forehead and chin were left intact. Details about the patient and procedure have not been released yet.
Since 2004, Siemionow had medical and ethical clearance for a full facial transplant. It has taken four years to find the right patient.
"We want to make sure they understand that this is a lifelong commitment getting the medications and being compliant," shetold CNN in a previous interview.
(More at link)




Wow! is all I have to say.

[Kami]

I heard about this. Actually if it's successful, imagine all the people who have been disformed from one thing or another. Car accidents, fires, birth defects. Gives them hope that they could look 'normal' again.

[SavannahStar]

This is nothing short of amazing. I remember when they did a face transplant of the poor woman in France whose face was mauled by a dog (NOT a pitbull!!).

The strides made in medicine never cease to make me feel more in awe of our creator.....I honestly thank God so much for man's knowledge and hard work and studying and literal brilliance to do such wondrous things to help mankind.

I probably made a mess of explaining that....I'm just in awe, really.

[texanne]

Can you imagine the shock to the mind when you look in a mirror and see someone else's face? It probably takes a while just to deal with that aspect.....not that looking in a mirror and seeing a disfigured face is easy. The surgery took nearly 24 hours.

[Roenick]

I guess she went through a lot of psychological tests and met with counselors before agreeing to do this.

Even if you've been disfigured since a young age, you'd still have a visual feeling of what you look like. Then to see in the mirror a different face would be hard.

I heard her family wrote to the donating family. All names are being held. But how amazing to be able to give someone your loved ones face. I think it would be harder than a heart or eyes.... if they ever saw each other.

[PatC]

I remember reading about this being done a while back in ....France I think.

[bambam]

omg i saw the segment on her...it was 60 minutes..? some news show....and i have thought about it so many times since! it's just bizarre! aren't they saying that her dog LICKED her face off (started out licking, ended up eating) after she was passed out from drugs and drinking for 2 days or so?? and i think i remember her saying that when she woke up... the first thing she wanted was a cigarette... but couldn't figure out why she couldn't get it in her mouth... and then went and looked in the mirror????? :eek: can you imagine????? your face is gone??? this story has haunted me when i have my insomniac nights sometimes.. i keep thinking that i need to look it up and refresh my memory. think i'll do that right now!!

[annalyzer]

omg i saw the segment on her...it was 60 minutes..? some news show....and i have thought about it so many times since! it's just bizarre! aren't they saying that her dog LICKED her face off (started out licking, ended up eating) after she was passed out from drugs and drinking for 2 days or so?? and i think i remember her saying that when she woke up... the first thing she wanted was a cigarette... but couldn't figure out why she couldn't get it in her mouth... and then went and looked in the mirror????? :eek: can you imagine????? your face is gone??? this story has haunted me when i have my insomniac nights sometimes.. i keep thinking that i need to look it up and refresh my memory. think i'll do that right now!!Well when you find it let me know. OMG