A Jehovah's Witness who for decades refused all surgery on his horrific facial disfigurement has been given hope by a British doctor and new medical technology.Jose's condition, haemangioma, stems from abnormalities in the capillaries and veins in his face. In effect, what should be a river carrying blood back to his heart has turned into a lake, which has now expanded to obliterate the rest of his features.
Unwilling to accept a blood transfusion, Jose Mestre has allowed the bloody tumour that first appeared on his lip in adolescence to obliterate almost all of his face. Now 15 inches long and weighing 12 pounds, it has blinded him in one eye and made eating a daily ordeal. As it begins to block his airwaves, doctors fear his life could be in danger.
But now one of Britain's leading facial surgeons has proposed treating Jose, 51, by employing ultrasound waves to coagulate the blood before the operation. This should allow his growths to be removed without risk of heavy bleeding – satisfying his religious prohibition on blood transfusions that has so far hampered his search for treatment.
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Source: Telegraph
Tags: Jose Mestre | Tumour | Surgery | Disfigurement | Face
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The following website summarizes over 315 U.S. court cases and lawsuits affecting children of Jehovah's Witness Parents, including 200+ cases where the JW Parents refused to consent to life-saving blood transfusions for their dying children:
DIVORCE, BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND OTHER LEGAL ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com
The following website summarizes over 285 lawsuits involving Jehovah's Witnesses, including cases involving JW Employees who were injured while working and then died because they refused life-saving blood transfusions:
EMPLOYMENT ISSUES UNIQUE TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EMPLOYEES
http://jwemployees.bravehost.com
Blood issue at a glance: The Watchtower leadership of the Jehovah's Witnesses say NO blood, BUT they actually DO ALLOW some blood "fractions".
Problem is this variance is so esoteric complicated that by the time special elders appear in the ER with the rule book, the JW patient is at the point of no return,bleeding to death.
NOW,they blame the hospital staff for not having a "cell saver" machine instead of the Watchtower leaders who are responsible for making the rules.
I was born a 3rd generation Jehovah's Witness in 1957 and endured the Watchtower's no blood commandment with longstanding bleeding Crohn's disease.The Watchtower leadership expects followers to die for their dogma and many have.The medical staff get blamed and are 'damned if they do damned if they don't'.
In 20 years there will be artificial blood for anyone who chooses it,putting an end to this drama.
"Let's face it, in Latin America, medicine is not exactly that advanced. That may have delayed his treatment."
1. "The man with no face" as they called him in a documentary by NatGeo or the Discovery channel is actually from Lisbon, Portugal... that's allll the way across the pond from Latin America, in Europe, where countries like Switzerland and Germany, where medical research is more advanced and less troublesome with ethical and moral issues than in the US.
Then again, it's a British doctor who offered to treat him.
2. Many MANY countries in latin america are breaking through in several types of surgery. Cuba, for example offered 150,000 US citizens living in poverty, the opportunity to receive FREE eye surgery.
3. While maybe not as advanced as in New York, medicine in Costa Rica is either free (if applying for govt. healthcare) or very low cost at private hospitals compared to the USA, with great results. No wonder medical tourism in latin america is becoming a rapidly-growing practice among US citizens.