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Plastic surgery is often associated with celebrities getting cosmetic face lifts and other procedures to make them more attractive. But plastic and reconstructive surgery can also help people who have been disfigured by birth defects, accidents or disease. There are also cases in which plastic surgery can save a life. To his patients at the Methodist Hospital of Houston, Doctor Tue Dinh is a miracle worker. Barbara Martinez came to him for help after surgery to fix a hernia left her with a painful and dangerous hole in her abdomen. "He could see the pain, I could see the compassion in his face and he said, 'I can help you,'" she said. She is also impressed with the doctor's modesty. "I try to tell him 'thank you' and he just says he is doing his job, but… his heart is in it, not just a scalpel in his hand," she said. Dr. Dinh says the challenge of plastic and reconstructive surgery often involves improvising solutions to life-threatening conditions. "Plastic surgery not only improves the quality of life of a patient, but sometimes it can save the patient's life," he said. Dr. Dinh often operates on patients who have been disfigured or medically compromised by accidents or even by other medical procedures. Today, Dr. Dinh is trying to fix a problem created by surgery at another hospital. In this case, the patient's spinal cord was left exposed when infected tissue was removed. | 
