Seven years ago, my face underwent a rearrangement due to Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. If the surgery had been on my leg or arm I think I could have handled it better, but having my cancer right smack dab in the middle of my face was hard. Very hard.
The picture below was taken well after the initial surgery. That is somehow too gruesome to reshare. You can go back to March 2013 if you’d like. I posted pictures back then because I was really struggling with the horrific image that met me in the mirror each morning. It took me well over 7 months of additional surgery to get to where I am today.
Below as I look today. Scars have faded and after extensive reconstruction, this is the face that greets me now. I can handle this. I think it’s not so bad.
Savannah asked me about this one time. I explained that I felt ugly back then and she was the only one who never noticed. She smiled and said, “That’s because I see your heart, Oma.”
Out of the mouths of babes.