I started this Blog thinking that photos of my skin graft might help others see how a typical graft develops and heals over time. I'm currently not convinced mine is 'typical' - maybe none are.
My visit to the hospital for the histology appt was really disappointing. The 'consultant' (he wasn't actually the consultant, just someone in his team), was running 45 minutes late. My meeting with him was perfunctory - he told me nothing about the histology of the BCC that was removed, though did confirm that 2 other biopsies taken during the op were clear. I was concerned that the graft looked a bit high, and it actually hurt, feeling bruised and tender. He simply said he'd seen this before and that it would change over time. The meeting must have been about 5 minutes long, and depressing rather than reassuring. It made me angry. This is how the graft looked on January 17 (7 weeks after the op), the day of the histology appt.
Doing my own research, I wondered whether there is seroma under the graft - an excess of lymphatic fluid. Online info suggested that gentle heat treatment with cotton wool soaked in warm water applied for 10 minutes might help. So I've been doing this once or twice a day, and then following with 10 minutes of massage with Bio-oil. I think it has helped a little - maybe it would have started going down anyway?
Since changing to Bio-oil (rather than Boots Scar Reduction Serum), I have noticed a reduction in redness. And the flesh-toned steritape I'm using to cover the graft during the day seems to stick better too. I'm using Scaraway patches overnight.
