David Wiens was a groomsman at Renee and I's wedding. He was the guy with the goatee. I went to college with him and met his brother Dallas only a few times. I lifted an article about him from the Dallas News. He's becoming a medical celebrity. Sorry this has nothing to do with England but I just thought I'd share this incredible story. This article is a little sensationalist and I hate it but they're all like that.

Fort Worth man seeking face transplant is already beating odds
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, January 17, 2010
By SHERRY JACOBSON / The Dallas Morning News sjacobson@dallasnews.com

Dallas Wiens does not remember the moment his face was burned off.

When Dallas Wiens was released from Parkland Memorial Hospital in May, he moved in with grandparents Sue and Delton Peterson of Fort Worth. Both retired to care for him. " He was standing inside a cherry picker making repairs on a church window in Fort Worth. His cellphone was ringing.

The next thing he recalls was waking up in the burn unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. It was three months later.

His family had to tell him how his head had touched a high-voltage power line that day in November 2008. It burned nearly all the flesh from the crown of his head to the tip of his chin.
By the time he was awakened from an induced coma last February, Wiens had been through more than 20 surgeries to repair his fourth-degree burns. His face had become a smooth, featureless melon of skin and muscle harvested from elsewhere on his body.

Where his eyes and nose should be were slight indentations. His upper lip, roof and insides of his mouth were gone, as were most of his teeth.

His survival was an incredible victory that amazed his doctors and inspired his family.
But Wiens, 24, wants to take it even further.

He is hoping to become a candidate for a face transplant, a procedure so rare and risky that only a handful has been done successfully in the world.

"I understand the risks," Wiens said. "But if I opt for a transplant, I figure what I've already lived through is far worse.

"If that's the route I go, God's going to lead me and take care of me."

A Boston long shot

On Tuesday, Wiens and his grandfather, Delton Peterson, will fly to Boston to meet with the doctors who last April successfully transplanted a donor's face onto a similarly burned man.
Wiens' doctors at Parkland are supportive of his decision to try for a transplant.

"It's a long shot," said Dr. Jeffrey Janis, his plastic surgeon. "Face transplants are so novel and so cutting edge that there have only been two in the U.S. so far."

His other option is facial reconstruction that would use prosthetic or artificial parts, including a nose and eyes, as well as a hair transplant and lip reconstruction.

If Wiens becomes a transplant candidate, his family will face a major financial challenge. While the surgery would be free, Wiens would be required to live in Boston for at least six months, undergoing tests and awaiting a donor.

"It would cost us about $2,500 a month for living expenses, plus travel costs and anything else," said his grandmother, Sue Peterson. "We've already paid everything we can pay toward this."
Before Wiens can get on the transplant list, he must go through a rigorous screening process. He will make at least two trips to Boston for tests at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where James Maki underwent a successful face transplant last year.

The 59-year-old Boston man's lower face was severely burned when he accidentally fell onto an electrified subway track in 2005. The transplant replaced his nose, upper lip and roof of his mouth.

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, the lead surgeon in that case, said facial transplants would give severely deformed people an opportunity to rejoin society.

"It is hard for us to imagine how difficult it was for Jim. He feared going outside," the surgeon said last year. "I feel that we are here on a mission, using cutting-edge technology to restore patients' lives."

Wiens, a frequent visitor to his neighborhood Starbucks, has no fear of being out in public because he cannot see how people are reacting to him.

But he knows they often are startled by his appearance.

"One woman got right up in his face and looked under his cap, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was so rude," said Wiens' grandmother and constant companion.

Wiens doesn't let such reactions spoil his positive attitude toward life.

"I've let go of the illusion of control," he said. "You can't control everything, and when you try, you just get frustrated."

'Path of turmoil'

His upbeat personality is a far cry from the way he was before the accident. Growing up in Fort Worth, he was better known in his family for causing trouble for his parents and two older brothers.

Wiens acknowledged a disruptive past that had forced him to graduate from a home-schooling program rather than high school. He's had minor brushes with the law but no convictions. And he's in the process of ending a two-year marriage.

He spent nine months in the Army before receiving an honorable medical discharge in 2006 because of knee problems.

"From the time I was 14, I consciously walked a path of turmoil," Wiens said. "The only thing good that came out of it was my daughter."

Wiens and his grandparents are attempting to get primary custody of his 2-year-old daughter, Scarlette. Wiens lives with the couple in their modest west Fort Worth home.

"We wanted to be available to help Dallas with whatever he needed and to help him raise Scarlette. She is the light of his life," said his grandmother, who retired from her teaching job when Wiens was discharged from Parkland last May. His grandfather also retired from his job as a banker.

"We always knew this accident was going to be a life-altering experience for Dallas," Sue Peterson said. "To see that happen is such a joy. We love being with him. He keeps us laughing."

Two-day surgical effort

Wiens' transformation also was made possible by a massive team of doctors, nurses and therapists at Parkland, where CareFlight delivered him on Nov. 13, 2008, the day of the accident. He spent six months in Dallas' public hospital, most of it in the famed burn unit.
Janis, chief of plastic surgery at Parkland and an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center, recalled seeing Wiens shortly after his arrival and wondering how long he would live.

"These burns on his head, neck and face were down to the bone and including the bone," he said. "Usually, these patients do not survive."

Once Wiens was stabilized, burn surgeons began the massive reconstruction of his face.

"It was almost as if we had a skull attached to a normal body," Janis said. "It was a long shot to get him successfully reconstructed."

A two-day surgical effort, lasting 32 hours, allowed teams of doctors to methodically remove burned and dead flesh, most of Wiens' teeth and his badly damaged left eye. Other surgeons then stepped in to disconnect and graft muscles and skin from his back and legs and move them to Wiens' face.

His right eye, which lacked a protective eyelid, was covered by a skin graft. It is not known if the eye will work again, although Wiens insists that he has some "light perception" on that side.
Doctors had expected him to be paralyzed from the neck down and never walk, talk or eat regular food again. His family was told several times that he was not likely to survive.
But they never lost hope. His grandmother began holding his right hand and pressing her thumb against his thumb.

"When I felt that force from his thumb, I was so excited," Peterson recalled. "It was the first indication that he was really in there."

And, little by little, everything started coming back.

Wiens would end up joking with the doctor who had given him such a grim prognosis.

"I told him, 'If you have anything else you think I won't do, please tell me now, so I can try to do it,' " Wiens recalled. "The doctor said I wouldn't be doing push-ups. I'm up to 15 already."

'The Greatest Save'

Wiens' recovery was astounding enough that Janis nominated him for "The Greatest Save," an annual competition held by members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Any surgeon with a compelling recovery can nominate a patient. At the group's annual meeting, held in Seattle last October, four surgeons are chosen to share the story of their patient's recovery.

"I presented Dallas as an extraordinary case because he ended up walking out of the hospital," Janis said.

The surgeons voted Wiens as The Greatest Save of 2009.

Also in the running was Maki, the face transplant patient in Boston, who was nominated by Pomahac, the lead surgeon on the transplant team.

"They all were huge tragedies with successful outcomes," Janis recalled. "But Dallas inspired everyone who heard his story.

"He's such an amazing young guy with his whole life ahead of him." A week before being seriously burned in a work accident in November 2008, Wiens played with daughter Scarlette.

More Amsterdam

This was supposed to be at the bottom but accidently deleted it... they have things like this in corners to prevent men from peeing there... backsplash isn't desirable.

We started in the middle of the night getting there because our flight was at 7 am from Luton airport which is about an hour north of London. Since we needed 3 buses to get there it was a long night. I don’t think we’ll fly out of that one again since the last bus there cost 27 pounds. The flight was very short, like flying from Austin to Dallas. It was amazing being in a plane for an hour and then we’re in another country! From that airport we just had to take a train to Centraal Station in Amsterdam. Centraal Station is at the top of the Old Centre of town, next to the water, from there going out are canals forming layers like an onion. We stayed at the Flying Pig Uptown hostel which is in the Museum and Vondelpark Quarter, a pretty good walk from Centraal Station. Near the train station is St. Nicolaaskerk (kerk means church). It is one of the cities only Catholic churches. The majority of Dutch people are Calvinist.

St. Nicolaaskerk (kerk means church)

(canals in Amsterdam too!)
We went on a basic tour that met in Dam Square which is where Amsterdam, originally Amsteldam, got its name because in the 13th Century the river Amstel was dammed here. The square has a war memorial on one side and the Royal Palace or Koninklijk Paleis on the other. Unfortunately the palace was being restored and was mostly covered in scaffolding. Originally the palace was a town hall (Stadhuis) built during the city’s Golden Age and was the biggest in Europe at the time. When Napoleon took over he made it a palace for his brother, Louis Bonaparte. We then walked to Oude Kerk (Old Church) where there has been a church in this spot since the 13th Century. We were told a story about the Amsterdam miracle. A dying man in 1345 was being visited by priests and nuns and given the Host many times. He couldn’t eat it all and regurgitated it. After he died it was thrown in the fire but did not burn and when the nun reached in to grab it she also didn’t get burned. Also it apparently would move on its own. Eventually it was put in a silver box and placed in Oude Kerk. However a thief stole the silver box and threw the bread into a canal. There is still a march every year from the old man’s house to the church. Outside the church is an odd sculpture of a hand on a breast on the ground. The church is the start of the Red Light District. At some point the sculpture was removed by the city but people protested and it was put back. The church used to make money off all the sailors that would dock in the city because they would come and confess after visiting the cities prostitutes. Prostitution was made legal in 1911 but pimping/madams are not. The women rent out the window space from landlords and are able to charge whatever they decide. Most of the windows are more like glass doors so they can open them to negotiate and let the men in. There is a little room behind the window so they just close the curtain. It was very weird seeing half naked women standing in windows as we’re walking around. They are there all times of day and night.

Oude Kerk

In the middle of the Red Light District is the Nieuwmarket, an open square, which has the Waag in the middle. In the 1480’s the Waag was the city’s gate and then became a weighing house (waag) for goods brought in by sailors. After that one of the rich families in Amsterdam changed to have each tower for different trades. The most famous one is the tower for the surgeons guild where lectures and autopsies were held. This was the inspiration for “Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp” by Rembrandt. I think this was my favorite looking building.

Dampkring, a coffeehouse made famous by being in the movie Ocean’s 12. Coffeehouses have strict rules to stay open and many of been closed in the past few years. The Dutch decriminalized marijuana so they could focus on other hard drug problems and this has worked for them apparently. Coffeehouses are allowed to have up to 500 grams of marijuana in there at a time. The government doesn’t really look in to or seem concerned about where the marijuana comes from.

We then walked by the Begijnhof which is a square of beautiful homes around Engelse Kerk. It was founded in the 14th Cent for the beguines, Catholic women who lived as nuns but without vows.

We also passed by Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) built in the 15th Cent, not so new anymore. It isn’t used as a church anymore but shows exhibits. Its next to the Royal Palace. Amy had told us that when the town hall (palace) was being built the church was upset by the size saying government was getting bigger than God so the government agreed to build the church a taller tower when the town hall was finished but ran out of money. We ended the tour at Anne Frank’s house in the section of Amsterdam called The Grachtengordel “girdle of canals.” The homes and canals here were built in the 17th Cent after a big growth in population. The homes and shops here are very pretty. We even saw a corner that had a Dutch cheese shop across the street from a Dutch chocolate shop. Two of my favorite things. After the tour we went back to the Dampkring to look inside. It was red and orange in there. It was weird because they actually have a bar and menu just for marijuana. We then went to Centraal Station to meet for our Red Light District “Exposed” tour.

We started the tour at a bar where we were told a story about a sailor who kept building up a tab there and when asked to pay before he left again was always out of money. One time he was asked the owner said he had to give him something so the sailor gave him a monkey he had gotten from the Caribbean. The rumor spread and other sailors started paying tabs with monkeys too. Walking down our first Red Light District street we passed four places with no windows and black and blue striped flags with a heart on them above the doors. These were apparently men only gay bars. The flags have something to do with S&M so there are supposedly whips and things lying around. Joe (our tour guide) tried to get one of the men to volunteer to go in just to see what it was like but there were no takers. Most of the prostitutes have red lights in their windows however there are a few that have blue. These are male transvestites. I know a lot of the this stuff about the Red Light District isn’t clean and nice for most people reading but it’s such a unique and interesting part of Amsterdam that I wanted to include it. Amy had told us earlier that the city has cut down on the number of windows and that the current laws about prostitution expire in 2015. I’m not sure if it will be illegal then or just no more windows. Joe also told us about his conversation with a cop explaining how there are issues with sex trade and illegal pimping happening that have been new concerns for the women’s safety. The original purpose for legalizing was to give more power to the women since they believed there isn’t a way to get rid of prostitution but could at least keep the women safer. We were also told about the security for the women. Each room has a camera on the door and an alarm button. Here there is also an issue of sort of pimping where the landlords higher young men to be “security” and make sure the women are working. The buttons call the security and police. The women also do not want to be photographed understandably and have been known to throw cameras. There was a time when Amsterdam decided to try male prostitutes out. They opened 5 windows and received 2.5 million applications. On the day they opened women were lined up down the street, however this also brought news people with cameras into the district and the women prostitutes did not like this and started protesting and beating up camera men. So that didn’t last long and the men’s windows were closed.

The next day we walked through part of Vondelpark, the city’s largest park, and through a beautiful neighborhood before getting to the little park surrounded by museums. The Concerntgebouw (Concert Hall), Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum, and Rijksmuseum were in this area. I also would have liked to go to the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum but there wasn’t enough time. The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch art museum. It also was being restored and was covered in scaffolding. The “I Amsterdam” sign is behind the Rijksmuseum.

Another one of my favorite buildings... Travis called it the Dixie cup house

We then walked to the Bloemenmarket or flower market. It’s along the Singel canal and lies right on the water. There are multiple shops that had hundreds of tulips. There were also other flowers but the tulips were the best. You could get 50 tulips (tulpens) for 10 euros. My mom would have loved it. There are tons of bikes in Amsterdam! The population is about 750,000 and there are about 500,000 bikes! I really loved that. It seems smart for a small crowded city to think there just isn’t room for cars lets go for bikes. Lots of bikes end up in the canals too, along with Smart cars. We then went to Anne Frank’s house for a tour.

(Anne Frank's room)

Visiting the house was amazing. The front part is Otto Franks jam business and in the back is where the annex was built. There were exerts from her diary on the walls throughout the house. We saw a star patch with “Jood” on it and a sign in Dutch that said “No Jews Allowed.” The annex the 8 people lived in was bigger than I expected however nothing would be big enough to never leave for two years.

The children's heights marked on the wall

Part of Anne's diary

We also visited the Hemp Marijuana Museum. That was pretty interesting. They had information on how different parts of the world used marijuana. I really liked the part about hemp. Apparently it can be grown without growing marijuana and can be made into tons of things. 1 acre of hemp can make as much paper as 4 acres of trees.

There was also a section about the war on drugs. There were about 20 different patches for different law enforcement agencies but this one is funny.

Amsterdam Pics

There are a lot of buildings and homes in Amsterdam that are leaning because the foundation is poor however many are intentionally leaning forward. This was because the homes were originally taxed based on how wide they were so many people tried to make them skinny, meaning also skinny staircases. Also since there is a mice problem the goods brought by sailors would need to be stored in the top floors. So all the buildings have hooks at the top and use them to pull things up to the upper floors. The leaning forward helps stop things from smashing into the windows.
For a couple hundred years Catholism was outlawed, however people were allowed to practice privately in their homes. During the tour we took we passed here an old rich merchants home (one on the left with white windows) a few blocks from St. Nicolaaskerk who had a secret Catholic church in the attic called Amstelkring or Ons Lieve Heer Op Solder (“Our Dear Lord in the Attic”). It’s now a museum and unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit it. Our tour guide also explained that this was the start of the Rules of Dutch Tolerance. They are 1) Be discreet (secret church in an attic- check) 2) Don’t hurt anyone (duh, its church- check) and 3) Be good for business (church was charged to run- check). This is also what’s applied to marijuana use and “coffeehouses” (two buildings from the right of the secret church).

Flower Market
Damrak- was the main waterway in the city until 1672 when it was dammed (apparently it stank) and now is sort of a rectangular lake/pond thing.
Our hotel
My cat friend in our restaurant... they like cats in Amsterdam because of a mice problem. Loved that.
more leaning buildings
Anne Frank statue outside Westerkerk (the church that she enjoyed listening to the bells of until the Germans had them melted down.)
famous sign outside the Rijkmuseum
Pretty neighborhood near our hostel
our room ~ when we got there the first night two Turkish guys were there and one was lying on our bed, which is not desirable. He moved but went to another bunk where he proceeded to have his feet on the pillow, luckily no one was staying in that one. There were also three Australians who got back in teh middle of the night.


mobile advertisement?