Scars

[Guest guest]

Thanks and Laurie fr your kind words. However, I do

believe that the surgeon in Cincy let a med student close me. It is

the worse incision I have ever seen. Deep and puckered in spots

with uneven closures, horrible. It looks like a big ugly butt and I

am just mortified by it. So there is not a snow balls chance that I

could ever let anybody near that. I might as well join the

convent. Actually, it makes me cry to just think about it and know

that I can never be fullfilled as a woman ever again. Thats why I

just need to throw myself into other things, the kids, finding a

job, getting us all together and spreading the news about this

wonderful group.

[Guest guest]

Have any of you tried any of those creams for eliminating stretch

marks, as well as cocoa butter?

My mother was run over by a logging truck when she was 12. Her right

leg was ruined, and should have been amputated immediately, but my

grandparent's were leary of surgeons, hospitals and the stigma an

artificial leg would have on a young girl in the early '40's. The

doctors collected skin grafts from her buttocks and left thigh to wrap

the lower portion of her right leg where only muscle and bone was

left. Although her right leg was permanently disfigured, she

copiously applied cocoa butter and stretch mark cream to all the

grafted portions on her buttocks and left thigh for YEARS, reducing

the scarring to the point that it was barely noticeable.

When I had to have an emergency C-section in childbirth with ,

the doctor's were forced to make a radical incision straight down from

my navel to my public bone to quickly bring the baby out. It was

hastily done, and ended up being an ugly, crooked and puckered scar.

As soon as the bandages came off, my mother insisted that I apply

cocoa butter and this stetch mark salve to the scar. I did this,

twice a day for about a year, and it was nearly invisible by the time

I had to have it completely opened up again, navel to public bone, to

bring into the world! No " bikini " cuts for me!! Once again,

as soon as the bandages were off, I applied both of those creams, at

LEAST twice a day, to the scar, for another full year.

Today, the scar is hardly noticeable, and even TANS, when I get in the

sun. The skin is soft and smooth and you'd have to get up really

close to even see it. Have any of you tried this? It's time

consuming and really only effective if you keep up with it for months

after the surgery. I have noticed that now there are some more

effective stretch mark creams on the market that were never available

back in the early days, with collagen and other skin healing

additives. If your scars worry you, you might give this a try.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

South Carolina State Rep.

South Eastern Regional Rep., PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org/anthology#Heidi.html

Note: All comments or advice are from personal experiences or opinion

only, and should not be a substitute for consultation with a medical

professional.

wrote:

re: scars <Deep and puckered in spots with uneven closures, horrible.

It looks like a big ugly butt and I am just mortified by it. So

there is not a snow balls chance that I could ever let anybody near

that. I might as well join the convent. Actually, it makes me cry to

just think about it and know that I can never be fullfilled as a woman

ever again.

[Guest guest]

Laurie -

Thanks for the reassurance regarding scars. I have an 18 inch scar from my

whipple surgery. Most of it does not show at all, but where the fistula opened

up, I have a two inch inward gash. I look like a rag doll. I won't even let

my husband see me.

I know it is vain of me, and I should be ecstatic that I am " cured " from

pancreatitis. I had never had surgery before and still wore bikinis - at 50, I

might add! Now I have bought three tankinis - thank goodness they are in style!

Thanks for the encouragement that the scars will fate.

Cecilia

Mesa, AZ

[Guest guest]

thanks, Laurie and Paget for your kind words of support. I know my scars

show that I am a survivor and I am thankful for modern medicine! It was good to

hear that others sometimes feel as i do - just looking at the scars on a bad

day can set one off!

Cecilia

Mesa, AZ