Recovery from forehead flap nose reconstruction

Hi Everyone!

I Love that we are all connected. I, too, am in the US, melm68.  I am 4 months post MOH's surgery and Plastic Surgery Reconstruction. (4 Surgical procedure since Sept. 25th)

I know Mackie has visited my blog with pictures at Yankeesmom on the Blog Spot above. I hope it will allow you to see the stages I went through. 

Best Wishes to Everyone as we all walk through this journey together. Please let me know if I can answer any questions at anytime. Love hearing Everyone's inspirational stories!

Best Wishes to Everyone!

Yankeesmom

Hi Melm68 and Yankeesmom,

Great to hear from you both and hear of your experience.. I did take a look at your blog Yankeesmom and found it really helpful but I think I’m going to take another look now that i am further down the road in my treatment and understand the stages so much more.. what a crazy, life changing journey this is... Here in the uk we are so lucky as we have the NHS and don’t have to pay for our health/medical care which is such a massive relief at a time like this.. I’m sure after my next surgery I will know a little more about refinements and any follow up treatment.. luckily for us I get the feeling that plastic surgeons are like artists who take huge care in ensuring each case achieves the best results it possibly can.. my surgeon seems very proud of the work he’s done and to date I’ve been really impressed with the care I’ve had.

I still have the dreaded pedicle which means my nose still looks odd but despite the swelling and bruising that remains I don’t have any dips or indentations at this stage although who knows what will happen when the swelling finally subsided.

Melm68 it’s great to hear from you and hear of the options available to you and I really hope that you get the treatment you require in due course to rectify any problems.. I’m sure you’re in excellent hands..  I know Lenelope mentioned dermabrasion for sometime in the near future which sounds interesting.. at the moment the only thing my surgeon has spoken of is how I’m going to get rid of the blanket if fine blonde hairs which  came with the graft from my forehead.. seems waxing is apparently the best option although clearly I do t think my graft would appreciate being dubjected to waxing just yet..

Thank you both fifctaking thectime to write and Yankeesmom I will visit your blog again to understand this journey a little better..

i wish you both well in your recovery 

best wishes

Msckie x

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Hello Melm68 and welcome to our forehead flap group :)

I know it can be worrisome when we hear of people having somewhat different styles of being treated but I think there is just quite a lot of variation in approaches and also depending on the case itself.   I've been looking into a lot of the work on reconstruction and cosmetic assistance and some sources say to always wait at least 8 months before doing anything further whereas some say it's okay to go ahead much faster.  I am sure you are in great hands - the US has some of the best surgeons for this!  

I have heard of the red light therapy and had some for other scars and post-surgery on another part of my body.  Seems it is very effective and there is NIH research attesting to this.  So I say ...go for it (as long as your doc approves).  Also, some laser treatments are not that expensive (I had v-beam and fractional laser the last time I had BCC on my face and Mohs surgery).

I wish you all the best and do keep us posted too!

Warm wishes

Penelope

Hi Melm68

I had my pedicle removed on November 3rd last year. I have a raised area on the side of my nise. I really didn't like the look of it but my surgeon said to leave it for a few months to mature and then revisit. I saw him last week and he was very pleased in the healing and the shape of it. He has said that he will see me at the end of march and then he will make the judgement of contouring. I did ask if that was a definite, the cosmetic side of it. He said yes as it's his work and he likes to be perfect in what he does!

Hi yankeesmom

I know I've asked you this before about seeing your blog and the pics you've posted... the thing is I can't see any of your pics but I can read your blog. I wonder if this site is different here in the UK to the one you've got in th US that we can't access pics or if not can you tell me how I can see them ??

The reason I ask is that I would like to post my before during and after pics to show you all what 2 years post surgery looks like and maybe reassure people that there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Any advice on posting on here would be great 

Thanks

Angie xx

Hi yankeesmom

Hold the last post I wrote to you I've worked out how to see them now lol.

Can I say you look fabulous. My surgery looked pretty much like yours when I had mine 2 years ago only now mine is hardly recognisable. 

I'll get round to posting a blog with my before during and after pics now I know how to do it 

Thanks and take care 

Angie  xx

Hi Mackie

Can I just ask where in the UK you are? I'm in South yorkshire. I had my surgery done at Doncaster by Dr Ullas Raghaven. He was absolutely brilliant. I only had surgery to do the flap and then another surgery to remove the pedicle. I never had any biopsies done beforehand either. I think I had another 2 appointments with him after that then he signed me off.

Take care 

Angie 

Hi Yankeesmom;

Thanks so much for your photo blog!  I really appreciated it and you look fantastic.  Sharing that with other is extremely helpful.  I do have a question (maybe you already mentioned this and I overlooked it) - did you do dermabrasion at some point?  My plastic surgeon and oncology dermatologist recommend I do a bit to smooth out the scar on my nose area.  They said to do this at 6 weeks (post pedicle removal) - I have no idea what that is going to be like.  I hear it's the facial equivalent of taking a sanding machine to your wood floors (gee!).  I'm scheduled to have this done in a hospital and by my oncology dermatologist/Mohs surgeon.  

Thanks for any input you can provide :)

warmest wishes Penelope

Dear Angie ......wow!!! I just love hearing that yours is hardly recognizable.  It would be great if we could see your before and after photos.  Thanks for trying with that.

Warm wishes to you

Penelope 

Yay!  So Happy you were able to view the pictures.  I look forward to seeing yours as well.

Best Wishes,

Yankeesmom