The Face In The Mirror

Imagine one morning you wake up and find you no longer look like yourself. Imagine you look into the mirror, and you see some sort of space creature looking back. One your husband likens to a Klingon! What would you think? How would you feel?

I was told it would heal, and that I would be as good as new in no time. In fact 6 weeks later when I had the flap revision on my face, as I drifted off to sleep, the bad previous surgeon said, “When you wake up, you will be pretty once again.”

Imagine my horror when I woke in recovery and asked for a mirror and saw this face staring back at me!

This was hardly what I expected and I found both the results and the discomfort I felt unacceptable. Especially when I was told that it didn’t hurt! Ah, excuse me?

I suppose I could have gone back to the original bad surgeon, but thank goodness I was encouraged to go to Boston where I met the good surgeon, who is slowly giving me a face I can live with.

After the first surgery I had with Dr. P. in July.

How often have we taken what our faces look like for granted? Oh yeah, I know that face in the mirror…Rough night last night…looking a little tired…Wow, my skin is completely clear, this never happens! lol!

My point is, it is your face, for good or bad. You know all your freckles or wrinkles or little marks that tell you, this is you.

So the last six months I have found myself with a real crisis of identity. That was until this past weekend, when my most recent surgery was unveiled when the steri-strips fell off.

It’s me again! I am back. I can look in the mirror in the morning and recognize the face I see!

The good doctor who did this, the gifted surgeon, is not just a talent, but his humanity is astounding.

Even if this is as good as it gets, I am happy. Most of all, I am grateful! I can see myself once again!