The man with no face gets a face
November 7, 2010 9:15 AM   Subscribe

 
That's a pretty cheap tumor!
posted by blue_beetle at 9:20 AM on November 7, 2010 [3 favorites]


Video of the news story here, if you dare.

I don't.
posted by dersins at 9:21 AM on November 7, 2010


The original story said he refused treatment because he was a Jehovah's Witness. This story made no mention of that and said that no doctor would risk the surgery. Also I guess the British doctors' theories didn't work out.
posted by amethysts at 9:37 AM on November 7, 2010


The new story seems to leave out the key fact from the earlier story, "A Jehovah's Witness who for decades refused all surgery on his horrific facial disfigurement ... Unwilling to accept a blood transfusion". There's many more articles discussing the surgery , maybe one of them explains whether they did something special to work around his religious beliefs?
posted by Nelson at 9:42 AM on November 7, 2010


NO THANK YOU
posted by tristeza at 9:44 AM on November 7, 2010


Are there many surgeries left that require real blood? I thought there'd been some real advances in bloodless surgery but there must be a line somewhere.
posted by shinybaum at 9:50 AM on November 7, 2010


That's a lot of tumor right there. Ayup.
posted by Askiba at 9:57 AM on November 7, 2010


Video of the news story here, if you dare.

The "related" videos in the sidebar are heartbreaking. Especially that Chinese man who actually had to carry around his 23-kilo facial tumor in his hands.
posted by Gator at 9:58 AM on November 7, 2010


Double.
posted by swift at 10:01 AM on November 7, 2010


tg;dl (too gross; didn't look)

(It's not that I can't stand that stuff. I've trained in first aid, I volunteered in a kid's ward as a teenager - ever seen a toddler recovering from burns? and I have attended a couple of nasty injuries. It's that vicariously viewing such stuff does absolutely nothing for improving my ability to tolerate and manage such stuff when I encounter it in real life. It's unhelpful ick.)

But yay. I'm glad that such cases can be treated.
posted by Artful Codger at 10:20 AM on November 7, 2010


From The Portugal News: "Speaking to Lusa News Agency, surgeon Iain Hutchinson said he carried out the complex procedure with a 'harmonious scalpel that uses ultra-sound waves to coagulate blood vessels', therefore reducing the loss of blood."
posted by Houstonian at 10:28 AM on November 7, 2010


Whatever happened to that guy who had tree like growth on his skin and limbs? I'm scared to look.
posted by nomadicink at 11:13 AM on November 7, 2010


When I lived in Lisbon in the late 90's I often saw him in the streets of Baixa and Rossio. His lack of face was one of the most shocking, heartbreaking sights I've ever seen. The amount of suffering. Just inconceivable. I didn't know he was refusing treatment; I assumed he was too poor to afford any.

I'm really happy to hear he decided to undergo surgery. I hope his life will get easier.
posted by sively at 11:54 AM on November 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Mestre has lived most of his life with facial tumors that covered his mouth and tongue, leaving him blind in one eye and unable to breathe and sleep.

What.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:09 PM on November 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


I am not clicking on that link.
posted by sour cream at 1:09 PM on November 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


nomadicink: "Whatever happened to that guy who had tree like growth on his skin and limbs? I'm scared to look."

Last I heard, he had many many pounds of that stuff removed and was doing well.
posted by IndigoRain at 2:10 PM on November 7, 2010


Face removed from tumor.
posted by pracowity at 2:34 PM on November 7, 2010 [1 favorite]


Whatever happened to that guy who had tree like growth on his skin and limbs? I'm scared to look.

He may be much better.
posted by piratebowling at 4:47 PM on November 7, 2010


When I lived in Lisbon in the late 90's I often saw him in the streets of Baixa and Rossio. His lack of face was one of the most shocking, heartbreaking sights I've ever seen. The amount of suffering. Just inconceivable. I didn't know he was refusing treatment; I assumed he was too poor to afford any

I too saw him on the Lisbon subway in about 2006. I am not sure if I can say this, quite, but it was a powerfully transformative moment in my own life to see this man, terribly disfigured, who had nonetheless managed to get up that morning, put on neatly pressed trousers, a stylish shirt and v-necked sweater, and head out into a world that would find him viscerally repellant. That kind of . . . what? Perseverance? Continuance? Transcendant spirit? I don't know, it was moving in a way that enforced self-reflection and demanded or inspired a striving for just a tiny portion of his strength.
posted by Rumple at 5:06 PM on November 7, 2010 [2 favorites]


The guy with tree-like growths was doing better, but has gone into remission after a dispute between the government and his foreign doctor.
posted by Marty Marx at 5:23 PM on November 7, 2010


he carried out the complex procedure with a 'harmonious scalpel that uses ultra-sound waves to coagulate blood vessels',

The Doctor now has a Harmonious Scalpel to go with his Sonic Screwdriver?
posted by FatherDagon at 9:38 AM on November 8, 2010


but has gone into remission

You mean the other thing, I think -- remission is getting better.
posted by mendel at 6:14 PM on November 8, 2010


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