Tuesday, 2024-03-19, 5:04 AM
Micay Stylista Fashionista









The
man with no face - medical science offers new hope
to face-eating
tumor man



Jose Mestre and sister Guida


Above: Jose Mestre and his sister Guida in London.
Pictures
below show Jose aged 14 when the tumor was still
small,
and as he is now.




A victim of horrific facial disfigurement - known
as "the
man with no face" - has been given new hope by the

advancement of medical science.



Jose Mestre, from Lisbon, Portugal, has been
losing his
face to a huge growth for the past 35 years,
distorting
it out of all recognition - and it's still
growing.



The tumor on 51-year-old Jose's face is a
collection of
blood vessels that have expanded, producing a
raised red
area on the skin.



Jose was born with a strawberry-coloured birthmark
on his
upper lip. At puberty it began growing, eventually
smothering
his lips, nose and one of his eyes. Now it is 33cm
long
and weighs 3kg.



But Jose's religious faith - as a Jehovah's
Witness he refuses
to accept a blood transfusion - has prevented him
from having
surgery to remove the growth.



Jose's rare condition was the subject of a
Discovery Channel
TV documentary 'The Man With No Face', part of the
'My Shocking
Story' series.



It reveals how top medical experts in London have
now held
out hope of helping Jose, a well-known figure
around the
streets of Lisbon.



A leading British surgeon has offered to treat
Jose using
ultrasound waves to coagulate the blood before the
operation.



This should remove the risk of heavy bleeding -
satisfying
his religious beliefs about blood transfusions in
the process.



Dr Iain Hutchison, of St Bartholomew's in London,
is confident
an operation with a harmonic scalpel could make
him look
a lot more normal.



Discovery Channel said: "Surrounded by a loving
family,
it seems incredible that he has not been treated
and his
face was allowed to grow so big. However, through
years
of medical misinformation, some misdiagnosis, lack
of finances,
and reluctance to undergo treatment due to
religious beliefs,
the growth has continued to obliterate his face."



My Shocking Story follows Jose on a journey
through Europe
to seek medical advice for one last chance to stop
his face
from suffocating him.



In this journey of a lifetime he travels by train,
via Paris,
to Britain, to meet the top experts in London. He
goes through
a series of tests, consultations, and meets other
patients
with a similar affliction. In London he also
spends time
with his sister Guida and the rest of his family,
enjoys
being a tourist in London, while making the
biggest decision
of his life.



Jose's dream is to live a long and normal life.
Following
the showing of the Discovery documentary he
continues to
adhere to his 'no blood transfusion' religious
principles.
But he has agreed to go back to the London
hospital in 2008,
when doctors hope to carry out specialist surgery
to begin
removing parts of his tumor, without the need for
blood
transfusions.



- December 24, 2007.










source:http://www.thatsweird.net/news47.shtml

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