The Most Incredible Story of a Hand Transplant You May Ever Hear…Says Glenn Beck
- Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:38am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Editor’s note: Glenn joked that our original headline, “Hand transplant allows woman to clap for first time in 5 years,” was a little underwhelming considering how incredible this story is. We’ve now picked a hopefully more appropriate title.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the first time in five years, Emily Fennell has two hands.
The 26-year-old single mother, who lost her right hand in a car accident, showed off her newly donated hand Tuesday while flanked by a team of transplant doctors.
Wearing a protective cast with her fingers poking out, Fennell admitted she’s still getting used to it.
“I do feel like it’s mine. Slowly but surely, every day it becomes more and more mine,” she said.
Fennell received the donor limb in a marathon surgery last month at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. She had been living with a prosthetic limb, but wanted a hand transplant to better care for her daughter.
During the 14 1/2-hour operation on March 5, a team of nearly 20 surgeons, nurses and support staff grafted a hand from a deceased donor and intricately connected bones, blood vessels, nerves and tendons.
The transplant was the 13th such case in the United States and the first for the hospital, which launched its hand transplant program last year.
With the surgery successful, Fennell begins the long journey of learning to use her transplanted hand.
“Emily hasn’t used her hand” in a long time, said chief surgeon Dr. Kodi Azari. “The muscles have not worked. They’ve become weak.”
At Fennell’s first public appearance Tuesday, she rested her right hand over the left one. When it came time to thank her doctors, she managed to clap her hands.
Fennell’s right hand was crushed in 2006 in a rollover accident in which her hand went through the open sunroof of the car in which she was riding.
After the amputation, Fennell learned to use her left hand to do daily chores such as driving, tying her shoelaces and even typing 45 words a minute in her job as an office assistant. Though she wore a prosthesis, she found it bulky and not useful.
Fennell was able to move her new fingers soon after the surgery, but does not yet have feeling in her hand. Doctors said it could take up to a year for the nerves to regenerate before she can feel anything.
For the past month, Fennell has been undergoing extensive rehabilitation in Los Angeles that includes eight hours of occupational therapy a day. She practices simple tasks such as grasping and gripping objects in an effort to improve her dexterity and gain strength.
Fennell hopes to return to her hometown of Yuba City near Sacramento next month to be with her 6-year-old daughter and continue rehab at home.
During a recent visit home, her daughter saw the new hand for the first time and exclaimed: “Mommy, it’s cool.”
Though Fennell’s donated hand will never be as strong as the one she lost, doctors said she should regain about 60 percent of the function of a normal hand with continued therapy.
Fennell hopes that means she could tie her hair in a ponytail again, catch a ball and type even faster.
Like other transplant recipients, Fennell has to take drugs for the rest of her life to prevent rejection. UCLA is testing whether a less-toxic combination of medications is effective.
Hand transplantation has come a long way since the first one was carried out in Ecuador in 1964 before the development of modern immunosuppressive therapy. The transplant failed after two weeks and the patient had to have the new hand amputated.
More than three decades later, French doctors in 1998 performed a hand transplant that lasted two years. The recipient did not take medications as ordered and his body rejected the limb.
Since then, more than 40 hand transplants have been performed around the world including several double hand transplants. The recipient of the first U.S. hand transplant in 1999 has lived with a donor hand for a little over a decade.
“It‘s clear that it’s achievable,” said Dr. Warren Breidenbach, who performed the historic surgery.
The UCLA operation cost about $800,000, but since it was experimental, the patient did not have to pay.
Little has been revealed about the donor except that the hand matched the patient’s in terms of blood type, size and color.
A week after the UCLA operation, doctors at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta performed the 14th hand transplant in the country.
The recipient was 21-year-old Linda Lu, who had her left hand amputated as a baby due to complications from a rare disease.
Lu’s lead surgeon, Dr. Linda Cendales, said many who undergo a hand transplant tend to feel more sensation than if they wore a prosthetic, and they are able to open doors, tie their shoes or turn the pages of a newspaper.
“They will never have a normal hand,” Cendales said. “But they do recover enough sensation to differentiate between temperatures, and rough and smooth surfaces.”
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Comments (99)
Juniemoon
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:24pmGet it while you can, the greatest medical system in the world will soon be gone. Thank you republicans for not stopping the travesty of Obama and letting them bully you with lies. You know the democratic party is not but Saul Alinskites who feed on lies and bully tactics. Grow some, republicans.
Report Post »NC1
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:20pmUnbelievable and absolutely awesome. Note that this did not occur in a socialist country with gov’t run healthcare (and probably never will).
Report Post »red_white_blue2
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:12pmA true testiment to improving quality of life, and a further inspiration to her daughter as she grows up.
Report Post »cranberry
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:10pmAmazing, I didn’t know they could do that! So she has 2 sets of fingerprints now!
Report Post »Skippy Toes
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:09pmWow :)
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:06pmThats awesome. God Bless her!
Report Post »TheBeezKnow
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:57amBrought to you by… OBAMACARE!! Not. God bless her. I hope the new hand continues to work for her. What a great story.
Report Post »IARifleman
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:53am“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better…stronger…faster.”
Report Post »-6 Million dollar man.
Entropy
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 4:25pmAwsome. I watched that show when I was a kid.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:53amI had a hand transplant too. Mine didn’t turn out as well since the fingers and thumb all curl into a ball, except the straight middle finger, whenever I run into a Democrat.
Report Post »wesinLR
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:45am*high five* thats really cool.
Report Post »freedomisasfreedomdoes
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:41amWow!!! super cool… What the future may bring to so many people and various diseases and conditions.
Report Post »EricINpensacola
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:40amI wonder if this would have happened under socialized medicine? don’t bet on it!
Report Post »GrumpyCat
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:39amGet it while the getting is good. How does one expect to get something like this past ObamaCare’s Death Panels?
Report Post »WatchingThePuppetShow
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:36amSimply amazing.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 4:20pmThat is what is called American know-how. Yeah, the USA is declining. My a$$!! When they want it done right and their lives SAVED, they come here. (I know she was an american gal).
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:33amLord thank You for the blessing this mother received and thank You for providing the medical expertise the doctors required.
Report Post »Guerrino_P
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 1:31pmHey TEDDRUNK, are you praising Allah? The good Doctor is a Muslim from Iran. I guess you’re not a bigot after all. Cheers!
Report Post »Drum Man
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:31amFreaking awesome. Hope she has a normal life after all the rehab.
Report Post »Gail
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:29amWow! Amazing!
Report Post »Keven_M_Thomas
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:09amUnder Obama care and the rationing do you think that hand may have been a different color? I can just see it. Mam I’e got good news and bad. The good news is we can get you a hand, the bad news is…….well we have to take what we can get you’ll have to take a black hand or go to the back of the line.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:08amTruly wonderful, hopeful this is not the beginning of the end for modern medical miracles. God be with us all.
Report Post »coffeeking425
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:02amSeriously awesome!!!! Who wants a tail?! Lol, j/k j/k.
Report Post »PT after surgery is seriously frustrating, but perhaps only more so cause I’m an athlete. I suppose just seeing a hand on your arm after knowing you didn’t have one is a lifetime of motivation to work with it. :D
Ricky A. Patriotson
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:19amThey already do that it is called an “addadicktome”
Report Post »Thomas Morato
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:58amThat’s totally awesome!
I had heard Obama had a head transplant somewhere along the way… In his case however, was a total surgical blunder.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:50amAmazing……
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:48amThe upside is that she can clap for the first time in years. However…the downside is that she never knows when she will start clapping.
Report Post »travlman77
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:47amThat is truly amazing!
Won’t see these kind of stories after OBMACARE takes affect!
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:51amTrue…if obamacare is allowed to start in earnest….you can forget such miracles..(especially if you are white). You will be lucky to get aspirin without a prescription….and if they have any.
Report Post »smak
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:53amWhy not?
Report Post »liberalsarealiens
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:01pmCost of coarse! The BO panel will say the cost overide the benifits of such an operation. The need of the many overide the need of just one!
Report Post »DogWithA_Bone
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 1:59pmWhen Obamacare takes effect we will not see anything of this kind.
Report Post »The reason that medical care is so expensive now is because of medicaid.
Drs are only allowed to charge one price.
Medicaid pays .05 cents on the dollar.
To make $15 for an appointment the Drs must charge $300.
Scary….Govt is trying to fix what they broke in the first place.
docvet
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 2:17pm@TRVLMAN77
Report Post »Yes we will. We will bring Brazilian doctors to the U.S. for training and then send all such patients to Brazil for treatment. Maybe they can bring back some oil while they are down there.
demint.disciple
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 5:36pm@ OZ… Sshhhhhhh !!! You‘re embarrassing yourself and I bet you don’t even know how… Sometimes it is better to just be quiet and let the libs fall down all by themselves but with your response you give them fuel to make us conservatives look like idiots..
Report Post »Whitey4West
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:42amwow…who’da thunk this was possible 10 years ago??
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:50amDoctors can work wonders… God bless them.
Report Post »chirodoc007
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:56amI’m sure that these will be the kind of breakthroughs that will happen every day under ObamaCare.
Well, at least when the doctors aren’t amputating feet and tonsils just to make extra mony.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:58amWho’da thunk this was possible…period?!
Report Post »Amazing! I just hope her body does not reject it.
poverty.sucks
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:07amLimit 3 miracles per year under ObamaCare.
Report Post »@leftfighter
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:10am“Allows her to clap for the first time…?” LMAO!
Report Post »chirodoc007
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:12am@ Showtime
She will be on immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of her life. These meds are given to all transplant patients to prevent rejection.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:24amIncredible what can be done anymore; it is a true miracle at work, both for God blessing the people who came to make such happen, and those who perform the transplant as well.
Report Post »Rich White Christian Conservative
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:25amI honor the doctors, but give ALL praise to God. Our healthcare system needs a tune up, not an overhaul. Even in need of repair, our healthcare is the best in the world.
Obama, needs to be hauled away along with his minions. Back to the darkness in the name of Jesus!
Report Post »theonefromabove
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:25amIncredibly wonderful.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »J.C. McGlynn
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:25amTo cut the sky rocketing cost of medical treatment this type of operation would have to be stopped. The doctor who developed this procedure, the meds involved, the hospital stay, along with organ transplants and everything else I can’t think of now. All of this no one seems to realize is, in part, of those rising costs.
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:28amPretty amazing. Wonder what it would be like to have someone else’s hand?
Report Post »and to the republic
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:41am@whitey4west…..I had to smile at your name. I like it and it is funny at the same time sad. Race is so important to some and that we have to give ourselves a name like you have is just crazy. Almost like when Rush says, illustrating the absurd by being absurd…..
I think us white crackers have taken the MLK statement about judging a man by the color of his skin more to heart that most. I hiope someday we all can not look at color and just as Americans….
and high 5′s to the new hand….amazing story…
Report Post »AriBenTZion
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 11:58amAbsolutely amazing!
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:08pm@ CHIROODOC007 Not under ObamaCare, because of the life curve, panels, and redistribution.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:11pmWow!! When the doctors cut off your feet for money, now they can give you new ones!!!
Report Post »Annette
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 12:38pmthis will appear frankensteinesque in 20 years. So happy for her and her daughter. God Bless
Report Post »thegrassroots
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 1:00pmTruly A Miracle! When seeing all the medical wonders that God has inspired in human minds I can’t help but wonder:
How many cures and solutions for all that plagues mankind have been so casually destroyed via abortion since roe v wade? Well over 50 million little human babies, blessed with brilliant minds by their Creator, and holding only God Knows how many answers, brutally murdered since 1973.
If anyone doubts that abortion is murder, kindly read up on Norma McCorvey [aka Jane Roe] and Bernard Nathanson, MD. These two were forces behind getting Roe v Wade passed. NOW, they are strong pro-life advocates, both saying there is NEVER a reason / excuse for an abortion.
Report Post »mrsmileyface
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 1:08pmNow thats a “handy” surgery. (rim shot)
Report Post »JayCee
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 1:18pmAbout a year ago a man near my hometown received a double hand transplant.
http://www.koco.com/news/27420484/detail.html
A year later:
After double-hand transplant, Oklahoma chiropractor says he’s grateful, is continuing therapy
http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/4363efded640434aaa6184e6efca73a2/OK–Double-Hand-Transplant/
Report Post »Guerrino_P
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 2:11pmWow, a Muslim Doctor saves the day. Iranian too! Praise to Allah. Sorry bigot right-wing Christians.
Report Post »Melanie
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 2:13pmAmazing! I’m truly happy for her, and for miraculous medical advances that benefit all of us.
I do have a humorous observation…
Report Post »Will we get a lot more Muslim immigrants because of this? You know, the ones who’ve had their hands cut off? This hand transplant stuff has got to be disappointing news for Islamists.
right-wing-waco
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 3:04pmAmazing and a wonderful story. I’m glad she is getting the help. A shame she lost hers in the first place. I’ll bet the average person will never get this surgery under obama-care.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 4:21pmchirodoc007
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:56am
I’m sure that these will be the kind of breakthroughs that will happen every day under ObamaCare.
Well, at least when the doctors aren’t amputating feet and tonsils just to make extra mony.
______________________________________________________________
LOL ..
Report Post »ozchambers
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 5:23pm@GUERRINO: I noticed that it was a liberal that brought up the race………as usual.
Report Post »Bermuda Onion
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 6:02pm10 years ago yes, but now with Obama care anyone with that sort of problem is screwed. And all the money that would be lost from all those that come here for this sort of health care.
Report Post »The Realist
Posted on April 22, 2011 at 7:45amchirodoc007
Posted on April 21, 2011 at 10:56am
I’m sure that these will be the kind of breakthroughs that will happen every day under ObamaCare.
Well, at least when the doctors aren’t amputating feet and tonsils just to make extra mony.
Well since Blaze deleted my post I’ll repost it-exactly as it was. Lol, but all kidding aside, under Obamacare all these medical advancements will come to am screeching halt. “Experimental drugs” and the whole thing, will be deemed “too expensive” and “beyond the budget” this has all been documented since the beginning of Obamacare.
I’m still taking screenshots Blaze, of all the posts you keep deleting-for basically no reason at all-and I’m not the only one. Keep it up, and they will all end up on a website to show what happens when you let a liberal HuffPo blogger run your site.
Report Post »atasteoftea
Posted on April 24, 2011 at 12:36amI wounder why she didn’t travel to Cuba to have this done? We have been told that Cuba has the best medical system in the World.
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