Scottsdale – It’s really impressive. The results of the first U.S facial transplant really impressed me! The initial operation was carried out by a team of dedicated plastic surgeons from the Cleveland Clinic nearly 2 years ago. The patient, Connie Culp, was disfigured by a shotgun blast 6 years ago. In 2004, her husband shot her in the face, tearing away her nose, upper jaw, teeth and all of her facial nerves and muscles. The injuries left her with the loss of smell and taste, unable to breathe through her nose and mouth, and nearly blind.

Now, the proud grandmother is recovering from her final facial plastic surgery, in which her doctors removed the extra skin around her jaw line. Over the past several months, Culp has regained sensation in her face as her nerves continue to regenerate. She no longer has an airway in her throat, can breathe through her nose, taste food, and importantly, smile and speak more clearly.

“As we planned, we have removed this extra skin, and essentially she received a facelift, and that really changed that extra skin look into a normal looking face,” said Dr. Maria Siemionow, who led the team of board certified plastic surgeons during the 22-hour procedure that replaced 80 percent of her face.

The first face transplant in the world was performed in France in 2005 on a woman mauled by her dog. Since then,  a dozen or so more have been performed worldwide. In the U.S., a second face transplant has been performed by doctors at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston, MA) on a man who was disfigured in a freak accident.

“It feels great to go out and not have people gawk at me because I look strange, but it’s OK for people to go out that look different,” Culp said. “Don’t let nobody bring you down because you don’t look the same as somebody else.”

We have covered this story of success with face transplant on the blog previously. However, I continue to be impressed with the outcome and scope of this plastic surgery operation.