Re:'Facing' the future of transplants
Name: Laurie
Hometown: Mandeville
RE: Face transplants
My face is someting I have been most critical of. At times I have reminded myself that I am more fortunate than others in my appearance. If someone in need of a face would use mine when I have passed, I would be plesed.
Name: Cory Woodward
Hometown: New Bern, NC
I'm writing in response to the article on face transplants. I am someone who has lived with a facial disfigurment all of my life. I think it is fabulous that we are finally getting to the point in medicine to help those with facial difigurements. It is terrible to be trapped in a face that cannot show who you are -that cannot mimick how you feel.
Unlike a burn or scar on an arm or leg we cannot cover up the part of us that is disfigured. We don't get to choose who we share our most painful problem with. It's out there for everyone to see, for everyone to judge, and for everyone to make fun of.
Having a facial disfigurement is very difficult to deal with. I was even suicidal for many of my teen years because of the brutality of others making fun of me. For me personally, I feel as if my face doesn't even belong to me. It is not a part of me. I would love to have a face that could show when I'm happy or sad. People take for granted how much a smile can do, and right now I don't have the opportunity to smile as others do.
I think before people make any judgements about whether or not these surgeries should be done they should really take a long walk in the disfigured person's shoes. Try to think about all the things your face does for you throughout the day and imagine not having that. Your face affects how you eat, how you breath, how you blink. It is not just about vanity, there are functional problems with having a facial disfigurement. I am glad you ran this story it has given me hope of one day standing out from the crowd because of who I am not because I am disfigiured.
Name: Clifton H. Foster
Hometown: Overland Park/Kansas
There should be ethical guidelines for doctors who perform this type of surgery and perhaps specialty licensing. Only those patients with facial disfigurements should qualify.
Name: Cheryl Fergusn
Hometown: Oklahoma City
Facing Transplant: This is straight out of the future! Very exciting and terribly scary at the same time. I would relate this to sex change operations where years of counseling should be a prerequisite for this procedure.
Name: Jann Patton
Hometown: Minneapolis
Facial Transplants - I think for burn and horrible accident victims, they should definitely be able to have this option. Their emotional pain cannot be underestimated. And the family that's willing to let their loved one's face be used is blessing another human being's life; just the same as if it were a heart or kidney.
