June 29, 2012
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Modern Medical Marvel
Patient gets scalp reattached through microsurgery
By Dawn Brazell Public Relations
A
shley Whittle pats the back of her modish hairstyle and smiles shyly. She’s trying to adjust to her new looks having lost the waist-long hair she used to have. “I’m like a kitten who’s all curious,” she said, her manicured fingers playing in her hair. The miracle, other than that she has started to feel beautiful again, is that her hair’s growing and with it a new sense of hope as she recovers from an industrial accident that happened Jan. 30 that tore off a section of her scalp and forehead. She has returned for a check-up to MUSC to visit with plastic and reconstructive surgeon Kevin Delaney, M.D., one that brings tears to the eyes of Whittle, 24, and her mother, Tammy, as they offer their thanks to Delaney and the team of doctors and nurses who have helped Whittle recover. A whiz in handling complicated microsurgery cases, especially replantations of amputated parts, Delaney was the one who got a call that Monday in January when doctors at a Columbia hospital were on the phone trying to find a hospital who could handle her case. Delaney was glad to take her. “I like solving problems. When people come in with complex injuries that require the highest level of reconstruction that typically involves microsurgery, that’s very interesting to me and exciting. I like to see good outcomes in the patients I treat.” Delaney quickly assembled two surgery teams and had Whittle airlifted, for the second time that day, for treatment at MUSC. Meanwhile, Tammy had to travel by car, praying all the way that her daughter would survive, trying to block out the memories of the last few hours. When Tammy got the call that her daughter had been injured at the plant where she worked and was being flown to a hospital in Columbia, she panicked. “Time stopped for me then. I knew it couldn’t be good.” She braced herself for what she would see, but still wasn’t prepared when she arrived at the hospital in Columbia for the extent of the injuries. “She was losing
See Scalp on page 10
Vol. 30, No. 44
Inside Family Fund Grants
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Several projects will now be funded thanks to money donated by employees.
Gme awards
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Ashley Whittle at four months after a surgery where MUSC doctors reattached her scalp following an accident at a plant where she worked.
Graduate Medical Education announces residency awards. 2 Excellence 5 Meet Joan 11 Classifieds
Shown left, Ashley Whittle’s mother, Tammy, gives her daughter a big hug at a recent visit to MUSC. Above, Whittle just after her Jan. 30 surgery. To see a video, visit http://bit.ly/ MicroSurgery.
t h e C ata ly s t Online http://www. musc.edu/ catalyst