I Might Not Have a Wicked Scar

I went to the plastic surgeon for the first of two follow-up appointments. The doctor literally spent two minutes in the exam room with me, so it was speedy enough to make me resentful that I had to drive an hour to reach the office, but that's okay. I did get sweet tea while I was there, so I consider that trip a success.

The doctor told me that within the next two months, my scar would "mature," which made me think of cheese or wine or something, but no. I have had multiple wicked scars mature, and the two months time frame is so a lie. The scar from my massive surgery (the one that involved gutting me like a fish and stitching me back together) didn't lose the red-purple coloring for years. It also didn't smooth out or soften for years. I'm not looking for this scar to be finished changing in two months, because that's not what really happens.

Apparently, the doctor said, the color will leave, it will smooth out, and it will be less thick. Since it has almost no color now, it is already smooth, and there is only one place I would consider thicker than the rest of the scar, I take that as meaning: "It will practically vanish, but I can't say that in case something doesn't vanish completely, because then you will sue me."

I was going to walk around telling people I'd been injured in a shark attack, knife fight, traumatic fan-related accident, or a tragic collision with a hummingbird, but I might not get my chance. Seriously, I have had zits that have looked worse than this scar. So good for the multitude of doctors that told me they wouldn't remove the potentially-harmful-but-turns-out-not-so-much-really mole, because the plastic surgeon did a way better job than anyone else would have. I am seriously impressed.

Here is visual evidence of improvement:

I am wearing foundation in that picture, but seriously, when am I NOT wearing foundation? At the gym or at my house. I use a relatively low-coverage foundation applied sparingly, just to even my skin tone. This is how the scar will look every day, unless it fades even more and then I will forget it exists. Here's what it looks like if I put no makeup on it. Incidentally, that was taken while I was waiting for my appointment yesterday in the exam room, on a chair that looked like it should have had restraints built in. Scary thing, that chair. I'm using Mederma on the scar every morning, but I'm not sure how much of a difference the gel is making. There's no way of knowing what the scar would look like without Mederma unless I didn't use it, and I am not making half of my incision a control group.

While I wouldn't want to repeat getting my face cut up and slightly rearranged, I have to say, it hasn't  been terrible. I'm glad I went where I went, the doctor and nurses were fantastic, and I'm glad the maybe-deadly-but-actually-not mole is gone. So, if something weird happens to your face, go the plastic surgery route if you can. My insurance company covered almost everything because of the health risk of the mole, so check with yours before you discount going to a plastic surgeon. I assumed going in that plastic surgery = all out of pocket, and that was not the case.

Oh, and I promise this is my last post forcing you to look at my lip, so if you're squeamish, you can breathe a sigh of relief!