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thedrifter
10-10-06, 07:19 AM
Plastic Surgery Advances Helping U.S. Marines
By Heather Ishimaru

Oct. 9 - KGO - The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is meeting in San Francisco this week, and while U.S. Marines might not be the first type of patient to come to mind, they are among those who benefit most from advances in plastic surgery.

Two years ago in Fallujah, Marine Sgt. Douglas Hayenga was injured in a mortar attack that killed four others. His right tibia was shattered and was within medical guidelines for amputation.

Sgt. Douglas Hayenga, U.S. Marine Corps: "They didn't tell me, which I guess was good emotionally for me. I didn't find out until later, then it kind of like put a lump in my throat."

But doctors saved his leg. It was a similar story for Sgt. Oscar Canon, who was also injured in Iraq two years ago in an ambush and IED explosion.

Sgt. Oscar Canon, U.S. Marine Corps: "When I saw my leg I saw the bone. I said, 'Oh this isn't really that good.'"

Doctors first told him he would never walk again. But after 58 surgeries, he's not only walking but just ran a marathon.

Sgt. Oscar Canon, U.S. Marine Corps: "It's all about what you put your mind and heart to do."

Canon and Huyenga also credit the military plastic surgeons who saved their lives and their limbs.

Colonel Thomas Crabtree is one of them.

Col. Thomas Crabtree, M.D., U.S. Army: "The saves, the salvages that we're able to deliver now, even in the last two years, some of the advancements that have been made are mind-boggling."

Crabtree has worked at all stages of the reconstructive surgery process -- from the front lines to the last stop at stateside military hospitals. He says the one critical area in need of a breakthrough is nerve replacement.

Col. Thomas Crabtree, M.D., U.S. Army: "If there's one thing I could wish for, it would be a piece of nerve you could get at "Nerves Are Us" and have delivered and sew in and have it work."

Sgt. Douglas Hayenga, U.S. Marine Corps: "People in the community are thankful to us but we're so thankful to all the doctors and medical staff that help us."

Hayenga is retiring from the Marines this month. Canon wants to go back to Iraq as soon as he can.

Ellie

thedrifter
10-10-06, 07:22 AM
WOUNDED IRAQ VETS: PLASTIC SURGEONS AID SURVIVAL, REHAB

Two veterans seriously wounded in Iraq were on their feet today to praise plastic surgeons gathered at a conference in San Francisco, saying that doctors not only saved them from death or amputations but also helped restore their quality of life.

The personal reflections of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Oscar Canon, 25, and fellow Marine Sgt. Douglas Hayenga, 23, followed a pictorial presentation by military plastic surgeons on modern wound care and the reconstructive plastic surgery techniques developed recently to save limbs and restore functionality.

"That graphic picture you saw up there was my leg," said Canon, who underwent 34 operations to save his leg and repair his shoulder and abdomen.

Canon was shot and received blast wounds from an exploding bomb during an ambush in Iraq in 2004. "Five years ago, even three years ago, that leg would not be here with us right now," he said.

Hayenga was hit by an exploding mortar round while inspecting a building during the military campaign to retake Fallujah in 2004. A year after he arrived back stateside for further wound care and rehabilitation, he still could not walk, and battled depression and a persistent infection.

But when his leg could bear weight again, he saw a big change.

"It was a little difficult," Hayenga said. "But as you see results, it really brings your spirits up."

Both men completed the Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., this year. Hayenga remains on active duty and has completed a bachelor's degree during his rehabilitation. Canon now helps recently injured soldiers through the process of adjusting.

"It doesn't change who you are, you just have to figure out the new tricks of the trade," Canon said.

The rate of injured limbs requiring amputation was 76 percent in the Vietnam War but has fallen to about 20 percent for soldiers injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to U.S. Navy Capt. Amy Wandel, who recently retired as a plastic surgeon at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego.

The reasons include faster transportation of the wounded to hospitals, better prevention of infection, and the development of techniques to preserve organs and tissue, which also speed the healing process. Many of the new advances were on display or presented at the conference, which marks the 75th anniversary of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Yet for all the medical advances described by the wounded marines and military surgeons, speakers allowed that soldiers' mental rehabilitation and what one colonel called "compassion fatigue" among medical caregivers required constant assessment.

Col. W. Bryan Gamble commands the Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany, the military's largest hospital outside the continental United States.

"We have psychologists and chaplains that make personal contact with everyone on the staff, asking them if they are doing all right," Gamble said. "Compassion fatigue is a big concern. We need to keep our personnel on target, but in my experience, they are already so compelled to their missions.

"Of the 320-plus reservists in our hospital, one third have asked to stay on after their term of duty expires, even if it means spending another year away from their families," he said.

Plastic Surgery 2006 continues through Oct. 11 at the San Francisco Marriott.

Ellie