Man Receives Artificial Face 24
jeffy124 writes: "Doctors in Kentucky have successfully implanted an artificial face. The surgery was required because of a rare fungal infection called mucormycosis in the man's sinus cavity that required removal his nose, eyes, cheekbones, upper jaw, and some teeth. The surgery required reconstruction of the mouth using tissue from his legs and facial bones were replaced with titanium bridging on which a prosthetic face is placed."
Saw this on Discovery years ago (Score:1, Funny)
Seriously, though, how does this affect the medical world? It doesn't seem to revolutionize anything.
"Man receives nervous system transplant"
Now that would be a cool story.
Not particularly groundbreaking (Score:5, Insightful)
There really are some amazing feats being performed every day by the medical profession. People should read more or at least watch the Discovery Channel on occasion, then they wouldn't be as surprised by things like this make CNN.
Re:Not particularly groundbreaking (Score:3, Funny)
NOTICE: Under normal usage conditions, your NewFace(tm) is designed to give you and your significant other(s) many years of satisfaction. Note that in the event of suspected brain tumor requiring MRI scan for diagnosis, warranty on your NewFace(tm) is null and void.
Eeeuurrrggghhh (Score:2, Insightful)
i cannot begin to imagine what life must have been like for that bloke.
it makes the latest kernel release seem pretty insignificant.
Re:Eeeuurrrggghhh (Score:3, Informative)
I heard about a russian man who had his face bitten off by a bear some years ago. He had one eye left, so he could function. The pictures were pretty gruesome - a big gaping hole in his face. The russian doctors couldn't do much, so he lived wearing a scarf over his face for a long time. Eventually, an american institution offered to create a face for him. I don't remember which institution it was. Might be the same one.
But this guy that lost not just his face, both his eyes also... I shudder to think about it. It's remarkable that he had the will to go on like he did... thanks in part to a dream about his granddaughter.
Re:Eeeuurrrggghhh (Score:2)
The first time that I heard of this guy was on an episode of Ripley's beleive it or not. Unfortuneately, I was sitting at hooters eating chicken wings at the time. I lost my appetite pretty quickly...
I think it's great that they can give the man back his face. I just wish they could give him back his eyesight or his sense of smell...
Re:Eeeuurrrggghhh (Score:1)
English 101 - i before e... (Score:1)
And then are the ones that go the other way, like conscience, efficient, science, society, species, not to mention many plurals such as fallacies, fancies, etc.
These aren't complete lists - there are several other examples that I've neglected to mention but I'm damned if I can remember them all now.
Grow Him a New One... (Score:4, Interesting)
Then there's the "when is an embryo a person" debate that is best left elsewhere...
OK, new face, but now what? (Score:2, Interesting)
Guy's got a new face, but collection agencies calling every day asking for their money (RTFA). Not too cool. Friend of mine got stuck with $100k of medical bills after his health insurance company said nogo to paying for a partial pancreas removal. He was filing for bankruptcy right around the time he died in a diabetic coma (half a pancreas will do that to you.) Can you tell I'm bitter?
Also, the article mentioned that he wears sunglasses to hide the fact that his "fake eyes don't blink." Article wasn't clear - was he blind, then?
Still, cool story that a face can be "transplanted", so to speak.
Re:OK, new face, but now what? (Score:1)
His eyes were removed, so yes.
Yuck. Poor guy. (Score:1)
Shiver.