Keratoacanthoma part 2

I finally got it removed and am stitched quite well.

Once I got in to see the Plastic Surgeon, he took one look and said "This has to come off now"   Yeah no kidding??   By then, the only way I can describe it is a medium sized mushroom cap, only disgusting looking. I kept it covered  so my skin was already red and raw from the adhesive for 3 months.

I did however get creative with ways to wear a bandage :)

Here is the end result of the surgery:

I had no idea a medium mushroom cap would create such a spectacle !  When I left after surgery I was taped from one shoulder to the other and half way up my neck !  Sure makes looking  to the side difficult, I still am unable to look up for eye drops or mouthwash. I dreaded removing the outer bandage the next day- but so wanted a shower ! He said the skin will eventually stretch to accommodate.

He also mentioned having to pull skin down from my neck and up from my chest to close the incision. I believe it , especially when I try to move. A few of the sutures were removed this week, but the anchor sutures have to wait another 2 more. It has made putting on a shirt a new experience, as well as a shirt has to button down the front so the scar isn't irritated. I honestly don't want others to have to see it, but oh well.

I'm dreaming of the day when I can again sleep on my side (the back side gets sore) and not itch !

Moral to the story: If you have a whitehead appear mysteriously overnight- GET it checked out !!

Patches

She wakes each day with a smile, feeling Blessed.
The everyday routine means she’s still alive.

She smiles and feels as cleansed as the earth with each rain.
After all, God is laughing at our antics so hard he’s crying.

Each morning she checks her temperature, heart rate, blood
Pressure, and weight.
And then again in the evening as well.
This is her daily routine.

She tests her blood sugar, takes her insulin and Aranesp.
She also takes 2 hands full of pills each morning.
Then another handful before bed.

She faces the normal daily obstacles we all do.
And a few extra thrown in to test her character.

She cooks, cleans, mops floors, and walks her little dogs.
She calls her family and worries about her parents.

She misses her husband terribly when he’s away.
He is her soul mate, the one true love of her life.

Most of the day is spent on the phone with insurance companies,
Hospitals, and doctor offices. If she isn’t sick,
She’s trying to straighten out another bill.

She had to give up her dream to be a psychologist,
But she volunteers helping others get their meds free.

She writes newsletters to inform other patients, runs a small website to inform and encourage.

She lives life to the fullest she possibly can.
She truly knows just how short it really is.

If not for surgeries, she’d have no scars on her body.
But the ones she has, she wears with pride.

After all she had to die to get them.

1991. A scar down the center of her chest. Open heart surgery and
A bi-lateral lung transplant.

2002. The scar circling her left shoulder on her back.
A single lung transplant.

2004. A scar stretching from under her right arm to below
Her elbow. Vascular surgery for dialysis.

2005. The scar on her right side stretching from her navel to
Her groin. A right kidney transplant.
A broken heart at losing her Daddy.

2006. Two separate scars. On her left shoulder a small scar hides
A box. A pacemaker.
Six tiny points on her right thigh.
Ablation therapy for AV reentrant Tachycardia.

And 3 weeks later she competed in the US Transplant Games.
The 5K no less.

2008. A new scar tops the old scar on her right arm.
Removal of the vein for dialysis-a blood clot.

She can remember many holidays in the hospital.
But she understands.

This is the cross she is given to bear.

With each new diagnosis, she laughs and says
“Just another day at the office.”

She is a career recipient.

She doesn’t worry about wrinkles.

She is the extreme makeover.

Her mission in life;
To make sure all the other candidates after her
Get the same chance she has.

She jokingly says she understands how Frankenstein felt.

She is the Patchwork Sister.