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God Gave Us Another
Chance With This Boy
When 4-year-old Jose Basilio says, "It hurts
here," he raises his arm to touch the back
of his head.
That is nothing short of a miracle.
And he adds, "I am feeling
a lot better."
A month and a half ago, a pack
of stray dogs were fighting over something in Jose's
grandmother's yard in Wapato, Yakima County. She
yelled for them to scatter and saw that it was Jose.
"All I did was put him in
my arms and was kicking the pit bull," says
Monica Esparza.
The dogs tore away chunks of Jose's
arms and shoulders. He had more than 50 puncture
wounds.
Doctors at Harborview Medical
Center in Seattle used an artificial skin called
Integra to patch his wounds. Still, they didn't
expect Jose to do this well
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Severely burned,
he beats steep odds
When John Powell heard the "whoop," he
said, he knew he was in trouble. While he was cutting
apart a car in a Trenton salvage yard, sparks ignited
leaking gasoline. "It
exploded from that point," Powell said. "I
heard something go `whoop' and figured that was
what it was. I turned my back and the flames were
all over.
The next thing he recalls is waking
up about eight weeks later in Temple University
Hospital's burn center, barely able to move.
During his lost weeks, Powell,
who lives in Cranbury, was kept sedated by the doctors
who treated him with the latest in burn technology,
including artificial skin grafts made by a Plainsboro
company for which his daughter once worked.
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Integra's Website
for Patients and Their Families now on-line
Integra LifeSciences Corporation recently launched
a website for patients and their families who are
in search of information on treatment options for
burn injuries and severe scarring. Integraskin.com
is dedicated to providing burn survivors and their
loved ones with meaningful information about the
latest treatments and reconstruction options. The
site offers information on skin, burns and scars
in general, as well as data on various burn treatments
and reconstructive procedures. It discusses the
Integra Dermal Regeneration Template as a recent
advancement. The site has a survivor community section
where visitors can "share their story".
Links to additional resources are also provided.
www.integraskin.com
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Charitable
help uplifts burn victim
Marites Ulep, attending a news conference with Dr. F.
Don Parsa, chief of plastic surgery at The Queen's Medical
Center, said that thanks to the Aloha Medical Mission
and free medical treatment
she received here, she will be able to return to her job
in the Philippines. Richard Ambo * The Honolulu Advertiser
Four years ago, Ulep suffered severe burns to her face,
neck, chest, abdomen and right arm in a laboratory accident
in Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. She underwent six
operations there before she
met Dr. Ramon Sy and others with the nonprofit Aloha Medical
Mission, who helped link her to the help she needed and
the more advanced technology available here.
Dr. F. Don Parsa, chief of plastic surgery at Queen's,
performed three surgeries on Ulep over the past six months,
including one using a new technique called Integra in
which artificial skin is developed to
help rebuild damaged skin.
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Super Sophie - any tougher,
and she'd rust
Australia's most eminent surgeons, researchers and
the three-year-old's parents all agree that her
recovery from horrific burns when a car ploughed
into her kindergarten in December are partly a result
of ground breaking medical procedures applied swiftly,
her will to survive and luck.
Doctors yesterday for the first
time explained the technology behind the skin grafts
that saved Sophie's life and proved Australian
parity with the world's best.
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Photo: Mark McCormack |
Shark
skin' benefits burn victims
Integra skin, sometimes called
"shark skin" because it contains
shark cartilage, has advantages over traditional skin
grafts.
Tim Gould, a former concrete worker,
was set ablaze nearly three years ago when using a torch
to cut steel. The torch ignited vapors and exploded a
55-gallon drum of Acetaline, resulting in third-degree
burns covering 97 percent of his body. Samar Hadid was
left with burns covering 85 percent of her body after
a home fireplace accident in December.
Gould and Hadid have something else in common. Each has
skin grafts that used what is sometimes referred to as
"shark skin," a term mentioned by Hadid's husband,
Aladdin, when outlining his interpretation of the doctor's
planned course of treatment using INTEGRA® Template.
Healing
Touch
Thanks to a new burn treatment
therapy, Arthur Biggers
is regaining use of his hands.
It's an average workday for diesel mechanic and volunteer
firefighter Arthur Biggers. He reaches for the phone,
clutches the receiver in his hand, and begins to talk.
He holds a pen to fill out an order form. He locks his
car door with his keys. All everyday activities, but ones
that would have been virtually impossible without Integra,
a medical procedure that is changing the way burn and
other accident victims are treated after their injuries.
Burn
Treatment Helps Regenerate Tissue, Restore Normal Movement
Arthur Biggers - diesel mechanic, chief of the Mt. Olivet
Volunteer Fire Department, hunter, husband and father
- removed the pressure glove from his left hand and flexed
his fingers open and then closed them into a fist. Next,
he moved his thumb so it stood at a right angle from the
rest of his hand.
Now thanks to a procedure he underwent on his left hand
in August, Biggers believes that in a year he'll be back
using the air tools, heavy wrenches, welding torches and
other tools of his trade.
