You nay have read about the world's first face transplant that took place this week. Let's examine a few facts here:
- The donor of the face was a woman who had hanged herself prior to the operation.
- The recipient had suffered her facial injury when she took a bunch of sleeping pills in an effort to commit suicide.
- Her face was chewed off by her loyal dog, who tried to revive her, and has since been destroyed.
I so feel a “movie of the week” coming here.
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Ooh! Something I can comment on with a reasonable degree of insight.
Rejection is only the first of many potential problems. Assuming no rejection, this woman will have a numb face. Depending on the depth of the transplant, she may have a paralyzed face as well.
One thing is obvious (to me, anyway): she's on shaky psychological ground to begin with. How would she handle the stress of any transplant? Corticosteroids are commonly used as part of the anti-rejection regimen, and these tend to cause even more psychological upset.
Best for last: how will she handle having someone else's face?
I don't know - John Travolta and Nic Cage seem to handle it pretty well in Face/Off