The things that are happening these days...! It will of course take months to years for recover but peripheral nerves to regrow; 1mm a day. You are not going to transplant arms unless you know that there is a chance of success for the individual. The physical and physiological stresses are immense. Have a read about this pioneering work that is going on in Baltimore USA.
A retired U.S. Army sergeant who underwent a double arm transplant after losing both arms and both legs in Iraq was discharged from The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore USA saying he was anxious to get back to an active life.
Sgt. Brendan Marrocco, 26, of Staten Island, New York, had the successful bilateral arm transplant six weeks ago at the renowned Baltimore hospital.
"I feel like I'm getting a second chance to start over," Marrocco said at a news conference announcing his discharge. "I'm just looking forward to everything I would have wanted to do over the last four years."
A roadside bomb attack in Iraq in 2009 cost him all four limbs.
"I hated having no arms," Marrocco said. "I was alright with having no legs."
It will be a few years before Marrocco's nerves regenerate and he regains significant use of his arms but Marrocco wheeled himself into the news conference, during which he pushed his hair back several times with his left arm. He said his right arm and both hands have little or no feeling or movement.
Marrocco will spend up to six hours a day in physical therapy.
The rare surgery took 13 hours and involved 16 doctors who volunteered from plastic surgery, orthopedics and other disciplines, the hospital said.
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