Ear Grows On Arm of Cancer Patient--Really!

An ear grows on arm of cancer patient Sherrie Walter--no, not in a science fiction movie, but in real life at Johns Hopkins University. This story is simultaneously cool and, well--sort of gross, so you might want to stop reading or avoid looking at the below photo if you are at all squeamish!

Photo credit: NYDailyNews.

Doctors say it's the "most intricate ear reconstruction in the continent's history." After Walter was diagnosed with basal-cell carcinoma in 2010, her ear had to be removed, as well as parts of her skull, lymph nodes, and neck glands. To reconstruct the missing ear, doctors used cartilage from Walter's rib cage and implanted it on her forearm near the wrist, just letting it "live there so all the skin could grow." Okay, it's great that they can grow a new ear and everything for someone who lost it because of cancer, but that's disgusting.

Walter just said "it seemed a little strange" but otherwise unfazed. "Ear grows on arm" definitely does sound like the title of a movie they would play on the Syfy channel. But for Walter, it's a return to normalcy. Good for her--perhaps if you survive cancer, you can survive anything.

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