About
the Book
From Trenches to Transplants : Changing Lives with Plastic Surgery is intended to demystify the medical practice known as plastic surgery, derived from the Greek Plastikos, meaning “fit for molding.”
Plastic surgery is more than erasing wrinkles and enlarging breasts. It is a surgical specialty devoted to helping people struggling with deformities from birth, injuries, or the ravages of cancer treatment. It also helps one with a desire to change appearance, form, or function for a feeling of well-being, confidence and self-improvement. This area of surgery restores hope to those who wish to change a real or perceived deformity, and thereby enjoy a happier, more productive life.
Plastic surgery techniques have been used for over 2,000 years; but there was no organized specialty until the early 20th Century, when America started the climb to become a world leader. The book shows the growth of this cutting-edge specialty through the eyes and minds of surgeons or patients the author has known, treated, and interviewed – from the trenches of World War I to the remarkable face, hand and genital transplants of the current era.
This is a book about people: the innovative, artistic, and creative surgeons who developed the specialty, and the patients whose lives they have changed.
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Praise for From Trenches to Transplants
“Fascinating—a terrific read combining meticulous historical research with compelling personal stories.”
Kelly Parsons – author of Doing Harm and Under the Knife
“What can be more exciting for the aficionado of scientific discovery than to read about an entirely new surgical specialty devoted to innovation? In From Trenches to Transplants, Barrett Noone reveals his own diverse experiences as they advanced in parallel with plastic surgery’s 20th century evolution.”
Jack C. Fisher, M.D. – Plastic surgeon, educator, historian, and author of Stopping the Road, Silicone on Trial, Stolen Glory: The McKinley Assassination, and others
“My grandfather and Dr. Varaztad Kazanjian were teenage roommates; my small connection to this exciting autobiographical adventure. Dr. Noone traces the evolution of the surgical correction of deformity, insightfully emphasizing not an imperfection’s size, but rather its meaning to the patient.”
Mark B Constantian, M.D. – Plastic surgeon and author of Childhood Abuse, Body Shame, and Addictive Plastic Surgery: The Face of Trauma
“Wonderfully written, From Trenches to Transplants describes the evolution of our specialty’s formal beginning during WWI to modern day allotransplantation. Through the telling of inspiring patient stories, Dr. Noone demonstrates how creativity and innovation have shaped plastic surgery and restored peoples’ lives. ”
Richard Redett, M.D. – Professor and Chair, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
“A brilliant and caring plastic surgeon for my family for many years, Dr. Noone shares his wonderful creative writing skills and knowledge of medical history with the every-day reader in From Trenches to Transplants.”
S. A. Williams – author of Anna’s Secret Legacy and Mackenzie’s Secret
other BOOKS
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Breast
75 Years of Growth in the Public Trust