Scallywag: So if you wont do that type of surgery, what type of surgery do you do in fact?
AJ: Ha- I think I do the type of surgery that most surgeons wouldn’t dare touch.
Scallywag: Meaning?
AJ: Look, I’ve been fortunate to have been groomed in some groundbreaking techniques from pioneers and in turn, I pushed the boundaries of what could be done, had my work and research published in medical journals, until I eventually became perceived as an authority figure. So typically I take on cases where physical trauma has been extensive, or say in the case of kids born with cleft plate assymetry – where I sometimes do pro bono cases in places like Colombia, because there is no one for these kids to turn to.
Scallywag: Have you ever had plastic surgery?
AJ: No- just some laser treatment over my lip due to some skin pigmentation of blotched skin.
Scallywag: Would you ever?
AJ: Only with the right person. I’d have to hand pick them. But I think that’s sometime way into the future.
Scallywag: Out of curiosity, when did you graduate?
AJ: In 1996, by 2002 after doing certain residencies and being steeped in innovative techniques, which I continually update, I opened my own practice.
Scallywag: What’s a typical day involve?
AJ: When I’m not operating, I’m seeing up to 65 patients a day, patients who fly in from all over the world, and I think meeting these people is so inspiring, cause I get to meet so many wonderful people and get to listen to their unique journey. When I’m operating, I’ll start with my first operation at 6am and I’ll work my way through operation after operation until 7pm that evening.
Scallywag: But how?
AJ: What may take an average surgeon 6-8 hours, takes me 2.
Scallywag: Can you tell me how ‘Facing trauma’ became a TV series?
AJ: At first it was meant to be a reflection on my own personal life, and how I was dealing with all these cases and my own personal setbacks, I had just been divorced, and then the producers began to see the theatricality in all these cases, these horrendous incidents of violence and would want to have me deal with them- live.
Scallywag: How did that make you feel?
AJ: When I first met those 2 women who are abused in the first episode and that little girl who couldn’t open her eye, my heart poured out to them, I thought to myself, no one deserved to have this done to them, and if I could help them- I should and from there a series was borne.
To find out more about this showing – click here to the Discovery website.
To reach Dr Andrew Jacono and find out more about him- go here.
This feature has been a sponsored piece.
