Update

Posted: 05 May 2009 06:35 PM PDT

e19e3a The Woman Who Gets a Face Transplant
Connie Culp, wearing her new face

Do you remember the movie "Face Off"? I've watched that movie several times years ago and I find that a very good movie indeed. Castor Troy (played by Nicolas Cage) who plays the role of a terrorist switches faces with an FBI agent (played by John Travolta). The face transplant has just become a reality, according to the news I first saw today at Chicago Tribune.

The recipient of the face transplant is Connie Culp, who lost the midsection face from a gunshot in 2004. Her old gunshot face wasn't a pretty sight.

mj0n46 The Woman Who Gets a Face Transplant
Connie Culp before and after surgery

The face transplant done to Connie Culp was not as perfect as the one done at the movie and there wasn't any swapping of faces. The face came from an unknown dead donor. However, I agree this is another major breakthrough in medical technology. Her new face is still far from those "normal" faces seen around, but at least she can now face the world.

The cost of the procedure was estimated to be at $300,000 to $400,000 and does not include the other expenses associated with the extended care that her new face needed for that transplant surgery.

v7f7zt The Woman Who Gets a Face Transplant
Connie Culp’s face before the 2004 gunshot