So, on 2nd November I had my BCC removed from my nose, I was lucky, they got clear margins first time round so was literally only at the hospital for a couple of hours.
Went back on 3rd November for my reconstruction which I knew was going to be a forehead flap reconstruction as I had been warned that I would lose a 'significant' amount of tissue from the front left side of my nose.
Was slightly apprehensive about it all, more about the practicalities rather than the cosmetic side of it. I'm short sighted so would I be able to wear glasses etc. If I couldn't wear glasses then how was I going to get to and from the hospital (about 35 miles away) twice a week for dressing changes.
Came round in Recovery to hear lots of discussion about the 'flap' and explanations and I remember thinking 'how can they see it?' Well the answer to that is that apart from a couple of dressings between the flap and the bridge of my nose and one on the donor site on my forehead 'Trunky' (as he has become known) was on display for all the world to see - that was a bit of a surprise! Oh, they'll cover it up before I go home, well no they didn't. Trunky stayed on full display until I had my first dressing change a week later. So I scared the living daylights out of the postie and a couple of delivery drivers when I was home alone.
So it is November and the temperature is starting to drop and this is where the next unexpected surprise came along, don't let the graft get cold! So I've tried various methods of keeping Trunky warm, the best I've come up with is some gauze over the minimal dressing that is wrapped around the flap with my face mask over the top and don't stay outdoors too long.
The unexpected bonus has been that it hasn't been anywhere near as painful as I was expecting, mainly because there is a lot of numbness around the areas but even as sensation has started to return things have just felt a little bit strange rather than painful.
I'm really optimistic about the results though, my surgeon is lovely and I just have a really good feeling about him. 2 weeks on from surgery the scar going up my forehead is a little red but you can already tell that once it is fully healed and a few months have gone by it will be barely noticeable. There are two areas that have been left 'unstitched' the donor site and the top of my nose where the flap is folded down so time will tell with those. The graft itself looks a little bit on the large side so will probably need some 'fettling' but again, the scar that I can see looks pretty good, I mean it's never going to be invisible but it could be an awful lot worse.
So, separation stage is next Thursday, hopefully I might be able to get my glasses on after that - it is getting really frustrating watching The Chase as I have to wait for Bradley to read the question out and hubby keeps beating me to the answers lol.
