Autobiography of a Face, Transplanted
Barbara Lock, MDMay 06, 2009
As a young girl, Lucy Greely developed a life-threatening sarcoma, a bony tumor that destroyed part of her lower jaw. Although she had many procedures, bone grafts, and plastic surgeries to repair her face, they were all unsuccessful, and she was left with a badly deformed face that deeply affected her sense of self. She wrote about her experiences in her book "Autobiography of a Face," which was named a New York Times notable book. After another decade of medical failure, she became increasingly despondent, made multiple suicide attempts, and died in what was described as an 'accidental overdose' in 2004, at the age of 39.
I thought about her as I read the reports of Connie Culp's successful face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Connie was shot in the face by her estranged husband in 2004, and was left a 'noseless monster'; even her children shied away from her.
Cleveland Clinic plastic surgeon Maria Siemionow described the process of selecting a person to receive a face transplant three years ago, to Susan Okie, MD, in the New England Journal of Medicine:
"Siemionow is looking for people who have stable personalities, with strong family support networks...'Our protocol is looking for the patients who have already exhausted all reconstructive options. . . . They really don't have faces.'"
The lifetime of medication that Connie Culp must take to prevent transplant rejection will also put her at risk for diabetes, infection, and cancer. Those are pretty big risks. But not as risky as not having a face.
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