Back in November I posted about a woman who had a undergone the world's first partial face transplant and the unfortunately hilarious (to me, anyway) choice of advertisement that ABC News placed next to it when I saw it (two people wearing dinosaur masks).
The media is now reporting that she is well on the road to recovery, and have shown pictures of her in her current state:
As you can see, she's not 100% better yet, but it is truly remarkable. Some facts I found interesting:
- The attack was by her own dog after what may have been a suicide attempt (or at least an overdose of sleeping pills).
- She felt no pain when she woke up and didn't realize exactly what had happened until she looked in the mirror.
- She's resumed chain smoking, a habit she'd been forced to kick for about six months prior to the surgery.
- She was able to eat normally again just a week after the surgery (before the surgery she could only open her mouth about a tenth of an inch).
- Her body tried to reject the transplant during December, but the rejection was successfully countered with immunosuppression medications.
As I was looking up information on this story to post this followup, one head line from Google News jumped out at me:
Face transplant woman improving by the fag.
She remains in hospital in Amiens, where Devauchelle said she spends her time knitting, exercising on a bicycle and smoking. "She smokes fag after fag. It's not perhaps the best thing she could be doing - but it's her choice," the doctor said.
Ah, blessed double meanings... Can you say "C'est la vie?" I knew you could.
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