:pointlaff: Face-transplant recipient appears on TV

[MJMANDALAY]

BARCELONA - Four months after having the pioneering surgery to rebuild his face following a hunting incident in which he accidentally shot himself in the face, the 31-year-old man, identified only as Oscar, braved the cameras.

"I'm very happy to be here and I wanted to express my gratitude to the hospital and medical team and to all donors in Spain especially the family of the man whose face I received."

These words spoken falteringly through a stranger's lips were difficult to understand but they were evidence of the success of a gruelling 24-hour operation to rebuild the patient's face and give him a chance of a normal life.

Before the surgery in March, Oscar, who is reportedly a farmer, had been unable to swallow, speak, eat or breathe properly after the accident in 2005.

Nine attempts to rebuild his face had failed and he spent five years living with a gaping hole where his mouth and nose should have been.

But on March 20 doctors in Barcelona performed the first complete face transplant to be carried out anywhere in the world, transferring new cheekbones, skin tissue, facial muscles, teeth, palate, skin, nose, lips and jaw and eyelids.

The operation involved a team of 30 surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other medical experts at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital in the Catalan capital.

Many of them appeared alongside their patient when he faced cameras to reveal his new face on Monday.

Doctors said his appearance did not closely resemble the donor, whose identity must be kept secret according to Spanish law, but is a hybrid of the new face and how he looked before.

Dressed casually in jeans, a light blue shirt and a cravat at his neck to hide the scars, the patient appeared before the press flanked by his sister and Dr Joan Pere Barret, head of the surgical team, who spoke of the progress in the four months since the ground-breaking operation.

"He has readily accepted his new face with no difficulty," explained Dr Barret. "A few days after the operation he saw his reflection and was able to recognize himself and this will help him return to a normal life.

"The patient is now able to drink liquids, eat a diet of soft food and his speech is improving daily since the first words he uttered two months ago," the head of the department of plastic surgery said.

"He will have to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of his life and there is a long journey ahead full of physiotherapy appointments but it has been a success.

Oscar has regained feeling in most of his new face and has partly recovered control of his muscles, his doctors said. He can now move his eyebrows, upper eyelids, jaw and external part of cheek muscles but has limited movement of his mouth and cannot yet shut his eyes.

"He is still a bit swollen and there is some excess skin that may need to be operated on later," said Dr Barret. The patient is expected to regain up to 90 per cent of his facial function within a year to 18 months.

"I felt for him today and we are all incredibly proud. It was a very brave thing to face everyone today," added the surgeon, who will be in daily contact with the patient in the coming months.

"From the moment the surgery was over he has been very stable, very relaxed and very much looking forward to resuming normal life. He has been very isolated and now wants to do what all young men want to do, he is single, he wants to go out with his friends and have fun."

The patient's sister, who did not want to be named, said the entire family was looking forward to his homecoming. "We are very happy and content and very grateful to the hospital because now he can start his new life, a life like he had before."

"He is looking forward to doing the normal little things in life again, the things we do every day without having any problems. Things like walking down the street without people looking at him five times.

"Most of all he is looking forward to sitting down with his family at the table and having a family meal," she said. "He used to love hunting and fishing and he can't wait to hunt and fish again."

The world's first partial face transplant was carried out on a French woman, Isabelle Dinoire, in 2005 after she was mauled by her own dog.

Since that date 12 partial face transplants have been performed across the world. Last month French doctors carried out a full face transplant even grafting tear ducts from the donor's body.



Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/healt...#ixzz0upXiGNHd



WHO PAYS FOR THIS???????????

[Rich W.]

They still havent quite gotten the knack of making it the right size...

[Cutter]

I'm sorry it looks nothing lkie him.

[cigarsandscotch]

He would look okay if he hung out at the Star Wars Canteena.

[cigarsandscotch]

Why not close the mouth and wear some sunglasses?

[Rich W.]

Originally Posted by cigarsandscotch

He would look okay if he hung out at the Star Wars Canteena.

[MyKneeGrows]

These words spoken falteringly through a stranger's lips were difficult to understand but they were evidence of the success of a gruelling 24-hour operation to rebuild the patient's face and give him a chance of a normal life

And just what normalcy will this new "Rocky Dennis" look allow him to have?

[martianvirus]

[curious george]

I'd rather be dead.