She first had a little wry smile, a wary strand. As if Isabelle had lived a hundred times that face-to-face a little voyeur. But his gaze was straight and clear. Without fear. She made us enter the hallway of his apartment and we talked about these past four years, medical feat and hope he had initiated this 28 November 2005. Then we returned. Also in the entrance, opposite the framed portrait of Professor Bernard Devauchelle with his team. Isabelle then invited us into the living room.
For the first time, journalists are allowed into her house and photograph it. Just her, in the process of applying makeup before the glass. There, she confided. With emotion, sincerity and humor. And the reflection of the mirror has revealed a beautiful soul.
The protocol
"Before the transplant, I was nothing. Six months without a face. A mask veiling my face. It no longer exists when one has no face ... Most of the time, I was living at the Amiens hospital. The doctors warned me that there would be a possibility of graft. Definitely, Maybe ... I will always remember. They said: "You think about it." I thought about it all night. Accept the idea of living with the skin of another, it's hard ... I agreed orally. Then they left me to sign a protocol on the table. It lasted three days. No one claimed me, then I have not touched. Then Sylvie Testelin, surgeon and assistant Professor Bernard Devauchelle, told me casually: "When you have signed the protocol, you will put it in the cupboard." I signed and I put in the wardrobe. I knew what I wanted. In my head, it was decided.
Six months later, one night I was out of the hospital and I was in the company races of my mother and my younger daughter. I wore my mask, of course. I get a phone call from a nurse: "Isabella, come in Amiens quickly. There are a donor. "In the second, it was panic. "
The mirror
"Forty-eight hours after the operation, it was the big day. One that changed my life. I had a little trouble in the face, but it was okay ... Sylvie Testelin asked's presence that I wanted. I replied: "You." It was all two. I had no bandages. Sylvie just handed me a mirror. When we imagine faceless, nose, lips ... without the fact to see whole is wonderful ... it is paradise. After it took that I appropriate that face. Sure, they have me successful, but it was not me before. Yesterday, by storing business, I came across old pictures that I had forgotten. That was a shock. "
The look
"I never thought that we should go out one day to face the eyes of others. Before the operation, when I wore my mask, people in stores were moving away from me. It was horrible. When I removed it, after the transplant, I could hear passersby on the street, say nudging: "How can we live with a mouth like that?" Or "Did you see, it ' is the lady who went on TV. "children were faces at me. I was harassed. Not only me but also my daughters, my mother ... With them, it was not easy either. It was not so much about the transplant together. They were afraid. I was the first. It was the unknown. So we had to be brave for my family. Today, I accept myself as I am and I even find myself too bad. "
who reportedly hanged herself
The treatment
"I get up very early at the moment to 5 hours. Immediately, I start my treatment swallow: five drugs in the morning, a lunch and five in the evening. I still take anti-rejection that give me cholesterol and blood pressure. I live all the time with the risk of rejection. It will not stop. I've done both. The first at the time of leaving the hospital. My face was all red. Then a second later. For now, other grafted suffered just two releases. Me too. So normally it's over! I do rehabilitation. With sketches, a physiotherapist taught me to work my mouth and block overstretched muscles. Alone in my room, in front of a mirror, I make regular sessions of half an hour. At first I had up to four hours of physio. "
The black hole
"This year, I have had a bad period, from May to summer. The month of May is the anniversary of my time "accident". Some things I miss in my mind the day I took the medicine, and then when I woke up and realized that I was like that ... I forgot everything. It is something difficult, which hurts, but I want to know what happened. The drugs, it was planned and decided. The date was decided. I had it in the head. Paradoxically, I erased it from my memory. I'm missing something. "
The lucky star
"The medical team has been great. But Sylvie Testelin is one that counted most. This is not a mother or a sister ... it's more than that. Sometimes in the hospital, I looked at the sky and thought, "Sylvie is my star." She's my guardian angel. I absolutely love. She and the entire staff of Amiens and Lyon are a great team. Without them, without their knowledge and humanity, everything would have been different. It was heartbreaking to leave the hospital and Sylvie. Since then sends messages. Whenever things go wrong, I think of her. She helped both morally! So much has been discussed! To do this job you have to be human. "
The trip
"At first, I was alone at home. I never left. The neighbor went to my place to buy me cigarettes. Now I have all the time wanted to leave. I'm not afraid to risk other people's eyes. Last summer, I went to Canada with a friend met at the hospital. We went to Quebec City, Toronto, Montreal ... There, the people are great. We never looked at me strangely, as here. The next trip is Japan or cruise in Corsica. This is my friend who wants to sail, but I do not like the idea of being alone in the middle of the sea. I've never done. And if flowing, what do we do? I still repasserais on TV ... "
Paris Match
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