Tackling the controversy about face transplants and judging their worth isn't easy, even if it's a qualitative assessment as the following will be. A registry of all transplant patients promises to allow a more quantitative assessment in the future. In my last blog, I did say that—no matter the judgment—facial transplants strike me as a better use of scarce surgical skills and resources than the endless tummy tucks and face lifts that dominate today's plastic surgery landscape. It's clear from … [Read more...]
Status of Face Transplant patients now?
Before we weigh in on the controversy over face transplants (e.g., if the recipient looks the stranger who donated it, won't he/she be a "walking dead" zombie?), let's catch up with some of the recipients thus far. The following "where are they now" story describes several of the America's facial transplant recipients—who're part of a very small exclusive club. Art rendering of a transplant from Cleveland Clinic/Plain Dealer Catching up with Face Transplant Patients CNN writer Elizabeth … [Read more...]
Face transplants, reconstructive surgery, Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Caught some snippets from "Mission Impossible-III" on TV the other day and was impressed not by all of Tom Cruise's over-the-top stunts, but by two rubberized face mask stunts. Face transplant of Philip Seymour Hoffman's face? At one point Cruise pulls on a face-and-neck hood which is a stunning facimile of Philip Seymour Hoffman who brilliantly plays the villain, Davian, in the movie. In the scene, Cruise as Hoffman approaches Hoffman from behind and you see both of them in the mirror at the … [Read more...]
Heart to heart about memoir, Cleft Heart.
As part of the International Authors' Day blog hop hosted by b00kR3vi3ws, I'm going to tackle some of the questions that're asked of me as I do various book events on Cleft Heart book tours. Debdatta, who reviews books at his site, b00kR3vi3ws, claims he's addicted to books. I hope he never goes into rehab. 1. Why now? What made you decide to write Cleft Heart? I finally got some time off from being a professor and decided to have another go at aspects of being a cleft afflicted … [Read more...]