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Face Transplants

Escargot - You can't tease us with such a tantalising hint...
 
Wasn't there a thread here ages back talking about the ads and disads of this surgery?
It's good that they can give her a new face, but I would imagine there would have to be a lot of counselling involved in the process. It's a scary thought to look in the mirror in the morning to see someone else looking back at you.
I know this is a slightly diff scenario as she clearly has been disfigured for a long time.
 
Now you know when ppl put warnings like that on things, I'm just too tempted to look! :cross eye
 
Not me. I appreciate the warning though. The last time I saw a gory photo I nearly fainted (it was of a person who had thrown themselves off a very tall building. I feel queasy )
 
Dear bob, how did that happen?! :eek: :D D'ya think they can put it back on?
 
I nearly did that to myself with a bit of fishing line once...wasn't even worth it for such a crappy wee fish, either (Brown, googly-eyed thing with spikes).
 
Inverurie Jones said:
I nearly did that to myself with a bit of fishing line once...wasn't even worth it for such a crappy wee fish, either (Brown, googly-eyed thing with spikes).

That will be a Tommy Ruffe (Pope, Polly Ruffe, daddy Ruffe or Cockie Ruffe depending on the part of the country that you live in).
 
Whatever it was, it looked like Poseidon had cobbled it together from his spares box.
 
Presumably the girl won't look like the 'face' donor in life, as her own bone structure will govern what she looks like.

I wonder what she will look like though (assuming it's successful, and I hope it is, for her sake). Will she look much different to the way she looked before her terrible accident?

Carole
 
The girl was injured badly enough in an accident when she was very young, Carole, so maybe she doesn't really know what she would look like if she wasn't disfigured. It must be bad if they are doing this surgery on her.
As for whether she'd look like the face donor, I don't know. Hmm.
It hope it all goes ok.
 
I suppose the only thing that matters is that she will have the chance to look normal . . .

Carole
 
She won't look too much like the donor. As they explained in Face/Off (silly as the film was, they did try to cover all the obvious flaws in the plan), the face itself won't look right without the same underlying bone structure and musculature. I expect to someone who knew the donor, she'll look eerily reminiscent, but not very like her.

As Carole says, the key thing is that she has the opportunity to look "normal" (whatever that means). If she were happy living with the scars (and it's possible she would), then she shouldn't have the operation unless it's affecting her physically. On the other hand, as seems likely, she is having social and psychological problams with her appearance, then she should definitely have the option.

(Of course, this opens up the thorny subject of needless plastic surgery to "fix" self esteem problems in young ladies. Let us not go there, as I think we can say the circumstances are somewhat different. And if you disagree with me, dear reader, start a different thread. Or find the old one. Keep it out of here.)

[EDIT]Got Carole and Spooky mixed up the first time. Just wasn't paying attention, I guess.[/EDIT]
 
I can't imagine she'd look anything like the donor at all, it's just the skin - all the identifying characteristics will be hers, like the shape of the face and the colour of the eyes etc. I don't think anyone would recognise their late beloved by their skin alone. That's not to say the personality of the donor won't take over her brain and use her to commit terrible, horrible crimes until she has to scratch it all off in order to save herself, and the world as we know it, but I don't think the look will be a problem.
 
lol Slytherin, wasn't that a film with Jeff Fahey? :p
I have no probs with someone having plastic surgery if they are disfigured in some way, Anome. If it's affecting her life, then she should have it done.
 
It just such a bugger that we can't evolve beyond looks being a key part of being accepted in society. I know it's a genetic thing - we go by looks to find the best genetic source for our offspring. But we've developed beyond our beginnings as simple mammals so much, why can't we develop beyond this?

pinkle "genetically unviable" fish
 
It should be interesting to see how well it goes. I imagine the procedure would be similar to other facial cosmetics where they tuck and stretch the skin.

Anyway, hope all goes well for this young lady.
 
I know we should be beyond it, Pinkle, but the fact is that we aren't. It's not clear from this story just how disfigured this girl is, but to replace her whole face I would imagine it would have to be a sight she doesn't want to see in the mirror, and she may have been subjected to abuse. Ppl can be very unkind.
 
I know spooky. I was just being a wistful ugly person!
;)
 
just cos you do have a disfigured face dosen't mean the end of course just take a look at simon weston, top bloke I'd have a drink with the fellah any time he offered.
It's sad when people can't see past apperance to the person inside. :sad:
 
I am wondering how long it will be before we get stories of people
pausing in the street to accept the invitation to sniff a new perfume,
then awaking two days later in a dustbin with their faces missing!

Or perhaps we will get terrible stories of poor
folks swapping the kids' faces for a sack of spuds.

Actually, I know a girl in East Manchester who appears to have undergone
that particular operation. :eek:
 
I hope they put it on properly.

Imagine the effect of standing in a strong wind. You would have lips on the side of your neck.

I bet the doner was Mrs Potatohead
 
Ha! 'Aye's to the left, 'no's to the right, as it were...
 
You're all correct, of course, about the bone structure determining the appearance.

But, I thought I read once that such a procedure won't allow for fine muscle movement, so the new face will be rather expressionless.

Does anyone else know about that?
 
I was wondering about that. I mean, facelifts can reduce mobility, and they're a less drastic operation. I saw a program about a girl who had the skin on her forehead separated from the muscle, and then pulled up (to bring her eyebrows up higher,or something silly like that). She lost quite a lot of expression, because the skin wasn't connected to the underlying muscles any more.
What about nerves, as well? Will she have any sensation in her face? It's a common complaint in breast surgery.
And rejection? If they take her face off and the new one gets rejected, what are they going to do?

And Pinkle, I saw the evidence too, and Spooky's right.
 
Kind of related - how are the guys with the hand transplants doing ?
 
10/11/03 - News and city section

Brits ready for face off

By Isabel Oakeshott, Evening Standard

Ten British people have put their names forward to become the first in the world to undergo a face transplant.

Details on plans for the pioneering operation will be announced by surgeons within days.

Teams on both sides of the Atlantic are now confident they have the skills to attempt the operation.

Surgeons insist the procedure, which involves transplanting an entire face from a corpse to a living person, will only be available for patients with the most severe facial disfigurements - and not as a cosmetic vanity treatment.

The team leading the project in the UK hopes to begin carrying out medical and psychological assessments on the 10 possible candidates early next year.

But the proposal has already sparked huge controversy, with the Royal College of Surgeons preparing to raise new concerns this week.

Their reservations could delay the British team for months - allowing Americans to make the first attempt. A source close to the UK team said: "Things are coming together. It is exciting. There are important hurdles to overcome but things are moving forward."

Momentum for the operation is gathering pace after years of painstaking groundwork. Plastic surgeon Peter Butler, who will lead any UK attempt, believes the radical procedure offers remarkable new hope for patients with very severe facial disfigurements, particularly burns.

Mr Butler, based at London's Royal Free Hospital, argues that the surgery could transform the lives of patients whose appearance cannot be improved using established techniques.

The Royal College of Surgeons set up a working party to consider its views on the operation amid a fierce public debate over the operation earlier this year.

In a key report to be published on 19 November, members will highlight a catalogue of concerns - focusing on the huge psychologicaland emotional difficulties patients associated with having a dead person's face.

Insiders say it is likely to take months for the British team to address the findings - allowing American colleagues to overtake.

The American attempt is being led by John Barker, director of plastic surgery research at Louisville University, in Kentucky.

Next week he will fly to London to reveal the latest on his team's progress at a high-profile debate on face transplants to be held at the Science Museum.

He said today: "We are very optimistic about being able to go ahead with this operation in the near future."

The biggest obstacle for the UK and American teams will be satisfying critics that the procedure is ethical. Although the Royal College does not have the power to block the operation in Britain, its report will form the basis for discussionsby an ethics committee at the Royal Free Hospital, where the proposed face transplant would take place.

The committee - made up of doctors and lay members - will advise hospital bosses whether to allow Mr Butler to operate.

If they agree, surgeons would carefully remove the face of a donor within 24 hours of death and graft it on to the patient.

The survey - expected to be published in a leading medical journal next month - suggests that, in practice, surgeons will have difficulties in finding a suitable donor. A source said: "There aren't many people who like the thought of donating their own face, or agreeing to allow a relative's face to be used."

Face transplants have featured in a number of films including the 1997 Hollywood thriller Face/Off, when an FBI agent "borrows" the face of a criminal.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/7600792
 
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