Woman gets new face in Poland's second transplant

A 26-year-old woman disfigured by a tumor has received a new face in Poland's second such transplant.

The woman, identified only as Joanna, had great difficulty chewing, swallowing and talking. Dr. Adam Maciejewski, who led the 23-hour surgery last week, said Thursday he hopes the transplant of some 80 percent of the skin on the woman's face will give her back those functions.

She is in serious but stable condition.

In May, Maciejewski and doctors at the Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology in Gliwice, performed Poland's first face transplant on a man whose face was torn off by a stone mason's machine. His recovery is progressing.