Stitch Free!

Stitch free! 💥 I am currently bleeding from my mouth, cheeks and forehead with a fat numb droopy lip, hairless uneven eyebrow, swollen welts all around my eye socket and across my cheek, crusty dark old scabs, as well as fresh red ones and black and blue marks already forming, unable to speak barely at all… but I have no stitches! My one humble goal for the day was achieved by sunset, thanks to the mastery, dedication and heart of my reconstructive surgeon. He is not only a true artist, but also a compassionate soul with a conservative, collaborative, comprehensive approach who spends real time examining, thinking with, explaining to, planning alongside and treating me hands-on. We’re putting my face and self back together again, piece by piece, appointment by appointment, trial by trial. Barring emergencies or other unforeseen, though not unimaginable circumstances, I won’t be back on his operating table until January, when we will see how my body has responded to this most recent round of procedures, injections and steroids, bracing for another series of treatments, needles, lasers and that next still-seemingly-inevitable mouth surgery to remove the increasingly troublesome scar tissue mass lodged within my lip. But until then, I will be thoroughly embracing the tiniest of joys that is my stitch-free self through the holidays!