Facing A New Life
by Ellen Devlin
Plastic surgeon Jeanne Adams, MD'77, HS'77-'79, '79-'82, helps battered women regain
control of their lives
Every time Marion* looks in the mirror, she remembers the last horrifying years of her
15-year marriage.
Her left cheekbone, fractured when her husband knocked her down and kicked her in the
face, was for all intents and purposes, gone. In its place was an indentation that pulled
her left eye down and gave her face a lumpy, lopsided look.
Her nose, broken by her husband's fist, was flattened and off-center by half an inch,
giving the once-pretty woman the look of a hardened prize fighter.
These wounds chronicled the cycle of abuse that began a year after their honeymoon in
1985 and ended last August when her alcoholic husband began attacking their three children
as well. That was the outrage that forced Marion to finally draw the line.
She gathered up their children - ages 8, 10, and 14 - and fled to a shelter for
battered women. From there, she called the police and had her husband arrested. Then, she
applied for Aid for Families with Dependent Children and finally got a small apartment of
her own.
Over the next few months, despite the continued threats from her soon-to-be-ex husband,
Marion began her new life. With help from police, social services, the court system, and a
job-training program, she gained the independence and skills needed to live a new life
free from the constant beatings, free from fear and from pain.
The only shadow on her new life was the shame she felt when she beheld her face. Who
would hire her for a job, looking like that? How could she venture out in public without
drawing looks of pity or disgust from passersby? She barely had enough money for
day-to-day living, much less the funds to secure the skill of a plastic surgeon. Even
though Marion wants to erase those awful years, the mirror, and the glances from her
children, will never let her forget.
Pro Bono Publica ...
For the Good of the Public
There is one Duke alumna who offers her skill and compassion to help women like Marion
begin new lives ... pro bono ... for free.
Jeanne
Adams, MD '77, HS '77-'79, '79-'82, is a facial plastic surgeon who lives in Durham and
practices in nearby Cary. The name of her practice is "A Radiant You," and she
is its owner. Two years ago, Adams joined a team of surgeons who work pro bono for
"Face to Face," a program offered through the National Domestic Violence
Project, and sponsored by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery. "Face to Face" serves two demographics: victims of domestic violence in
the U.S. and people in Third World countries who suffer facial birth defects such as cleft
lips and palates, and wounds caused by accidents and war.
The surgical skills Adams learned at Duke, and later at Mount Sinai Medical Center in
New York, serve the domestic facet of "Face to Face" when she helps women erase
from their faces the constant daily reminder of the years of physical abuse.
"People need to realize that physical appearance is not all about vanity,"
says Adams. "Improving a person's appearance bolsters their self esteem tremendously.
And what many of these battered women need so badly is higher self esteem. An abused woman
begins to share her abuser's opinion that she is no good, that she somehow deserves this
treatment. Repairing the damage to her face drives home the point that she is a valuable
person, worthy of being treated with compassion and respect."
Adams says that victims of domestic violence-these victims are almost always women-must
be out of their abusive relationship for six months to a year before they can qualify for
"Face to Face." Candidates are referred by local support agencies such as
Interact Battered Women's Shelter and Rape Crisis Center in Raleigh, and social services.
Another qualifying stipulation is that the candidate must have received her facial
injuries as a result of domestic violence, rather than by accidents or birth defects.
"It's amazing how much more confident these women become after we've repaired the
damages," says Adams. "Women on the verge of actually returning to their abusive
relationships change their minds when they see their new faces. Some women had actually
forgotten what they were supposed to look like. The new face reminds them of the time when
they weren't being abused, a time when they were more in control of their lives."
Adams says she joined the "Face to Face" program for two reasons: she wanted
to give back to the community what she had gained through her education and career, and
she was committed to helping other women overcome sexist stereotypes that keep them in the
vicious cycle of abuse.
"Cutting and sewing are women's work."
Adams
exhibited a pioneering nature early on. So far, she is the only female surgeon to have
earned her medical degree and two surgical residencies-general and otolaryngology-from
Duke. After completion of her Duke residencies in 1982, Adams served her plastic and
reconstructive surgery fellowship at Mt. Sinai, and began private practice in 1983. An
Ohio native, Adams returned to the familiar Durham area when her then-husband, a
pathologist, took a position at Duke. In an era where female medical students were
relatively rare, Adams really stood out as one of only two females serving a general
surgical residency.
"I think society felt that women simply didn't have the physical stamina to stand
through hours of grueling surgery," says Adams. "Right! Many, many women work
eight to ten hours a day, pick up their toddlers at day care, rush through the grocery
store, prepare dinner, bathe and feed the kids, clean the house, and do the laundry before
falling into bed at midnight. Compared to that, eight hours of surgery is nothing.
Besides, cutting and sewing are women's work!"
Adams says she "fell in love" with surgery during that rotation as a Duke
medical student. She experienced none of the squeamishness that people normally associate
with blood and internal organs, and in fact, found the concept of touching the inner
workings of a living body fascinating. She credits the encouragement of David Sabiston,
MD, then the chair of the Department of Surgery, with stoking her enthusiasm throughout
the 36-hour-on, 12-hour-off shifts that surgical residents endure.
"I was treated well at Duke," Adams recalls. "It gave me good
experiences in an environment which was competitive, but not cutthroat-excuse the pun. The
students always helped each other out, and the professors were some of the best in their
fields."
Adams is a single mother of two girls, 6-and-a-half-year-old Mary Spencer, and
8-year-old MacKenzie. Wanting to spend "morning" time with her daughters, Adams
schedules surgery for 8:30 or 9 a.m. each day, and reserves the afternoons for
consultations. She is usually back home by dinnertime. The non-emergency nature of plastic
surgery affords Adams the regular hours to spend at home.
"You never hear of anybody needing an emergency face lift," she laughs.
"I don't greet ambulances here."
Adams encourages more of her colleagues to offer their services to programs such as
"Face to Face."
"Not only is this work fulfilling, it lets the community know that plastic surgery
is not just for wealthy women on a 'vanity trip.' Plastic surgery, especially pro bono for
disadvantaged patients, can mend lives and souls as well as faces."
