Flap after BCG removal

Hi 

I am recovering from MOHs and Forehead flap surgery, have to say not an easy ride but getting there and keep telling myself cancer gone, sorry your not happy with shape of nose, I must admit am not happy with my nose either one nostril significantly bigger than the other and a funny shape, my forehead is healing good only had separation 2 weeks ago scar on forehead starts an inch into hairline and finishes in the corner of left eye very sore over that eyebrow, can start massaging that area tomorrow, apparently massage is the key have you tried that.

take care

Frankie1

I have had two ops to remove the lump left by the flap from my cheek to the top of the side of my nose.  It will never look perfect and of course the scars are still there, but it is certainly improved in size.  Also it seems to have helped the lop-sided look of my mouth, so certainly worth it.

I shall consider it my ‘badge of honour’ to show what I went through!!  Incidentally, the two ‘cosmetic’ ops were not major and done under local anaesthetic.

Wishing you well.

Hi, I think I replied to Frankie instead of you, re thinning out the fat in the flap - hope you can read it there!  Best wishes.

three months.. no real counseling.

very bulky and bumpy.  

We agreed to a two stage for head flap.

this is not obviously what has occurred.

like I said I go back December 18...

I will not tolerate be patient.

I alerted my plastic surgeon on November 7 that I was not happy that it looked like The scar tissue was growing.

I will not walk into a cosmetic charge when the plastic surgeon made a huge mistake in stage one and two.

So sorry that you are feeling let down.  I don’t know if you read my post earlier, but I too had to have further surgery to lessen the fat in my flap. I had the original two stage surgery to create the flap back in May last year and it looked gross - like a big slug across my cheek.

i had to wait until August last year to have the cosmetic surgery (on the NHS, with the same medical team) and although there was some improvement it wasn’t enough so I had further surgery this September.  It is now much improved but will never look perfect - I am learning to live with it.

i think maybe it was not a medical error in the first instance - just how it is when you have a flap.  I do hope your surgeon can improve things for you.

Hi

I feel like you after forehead flap to reconstruct the huge chunk of nose it looked like a sausage lying there.

My surgeon though is very pleased with the result and even lasered the flap to blend it into my face.

I now have red marks across the bridge of the nose and a bit either side and it still looks like a sausage and a numb one at that.

i used to have a small nose now i have a longer one its very disappointing , he tells me be patient it has to settle down it could take up to a year,

they have given me a great product called oxegenix foundation to cover the red areas but im not happy, would love to here your experience

Janet

Hi Crabby Teddy, 

Sorry you are going through this. I too had a forehead flap after infiltrating BCC on my nose August 2019. My initial nose defect after MOHS was the right side of nose but the plastic surgeon enlarged the defect to include the left side as well for better graft appearance he said.  My nose is shorter than before which is good : ) but the nostrils are asymmetric and now my septum deviates. Steroid injections really helped take the "bumpy" appearance out of my nose graft. I am still working on getting the forehead reinsertion site fixed. I had separation surgery of the flap and then another surgery for revision a month after that.  Yesterday I had steroids injected into the insertion site near my eyebrow "ouch" but am hopeful the bumpy area resolves as it is much more noticeable than the nose graft! Time has made a big difference as well. It is so hard to be patient! I will be having laser surgery to "blend" and also deal with some additional lesions that have popped up on my right cheek in 4 weeks. (these new lesions are so far considered "pre-cancerous actinic keratoses")

So.....long story short, this is a very difficult time. It is our face and we can't avoid it. No one that has not been through this quite understands what this feels like to look at ourselves and wonder what next. I have also found that it is different for each of us, everyone heals differently, has different defects initially, and no matter the skill of our surgeon, there are a bunch of other factors in how this turns out. I have found that being persistent and not accepting a result I am not happy with has given me some of my confidence back. My surgeon thinks I am a pain in the butt however I don't care. Our relationship will hopefully come to an end very soon.  Hang in there. 

Teddi

Best of luck with your appointment on 18th let us know how you get on

Janet 

Hi Janet, Frankie, Crabby Teddy and others on this thread,

An update and RANT!! 

Yesterday was my scheduled appointment for the fractionated laser of my forehead flap scars (forehead and nose) and the actinic keratosis under my eye. After ALOT of fretting over deciding if I should do this....I arrived for my appointment, had a brief discussion with my surgeon about what we were going to be doing, paid CASH for the procedure, was checked into a procedure room, received anesthesia nerve blocks (two through my mouth and one under by left eyebrow), and patiently waited for him and staff to set up the equipment. After 10 minutes, I asked if there was something wrong, what was the hold up? He then tells me that he is so very sorry, the laser was repaired 10 days previous but it still wasn't working correctly. So....sorry, go home, we will call you later in the day to reschedule. WHAT??? SERIOUSLY???  No phone call ever happened. Not that I would go back there anyway, this was the final straw with this guy.  We move 1200 miles in one week so I will now start over in my new city....find a dermatologist , find a plastic surgeon, blah blah blah. I'm so frustrated! Thanks for letting me RANT! 

Teddi 

Hi Teddi

how frustrating for you and to have had the block too,  I massage my scars 20 minutes at least a day and apart from a bit of a bumpy area by eyebrow and corner of my eye, my scar is looking really good, not going to lie still very tender in that area, but it’s the only way to break the scar tissue down so am persevering.  Am now waiting for appointment for electrolysis for the hairs that are growing on the tip of my nose, not looking forward to that. 
  Rant any time,happy new year to you and I hope your more successful next time with laser treatment 

Take care 
Frankie1 (Tracey) xx