Blake in his early adolescence encountered a life threatening accident – A drastic car
crash while traveling to Indiana. He was traveling to meet his grandfather one
summer. Luckily, his family survived, but leaving certain injuries and scars.
In the accident, his nose was left deformed with his nose tip being pointed at
one side and with totally unsymmetrical facial contour. Few months after the accident
and recovery, he realized that the people look at him in a different way
deviant from before. It makes him feel awkward. Some of his peers started
teasing him regarding his broken nose and the weird
shape he has been left. Some elders
suggested his family members to take some initiative to change his appearance.
He finally had to think about it. He consulted few
professional plastic surgery specialists, who diagnosed him from various
angles. His facial appearance was repeatedly checked by them. As he met one
after other plastic surgery specialists, he realized that his nose requires a
complex operation requiring incision at more than one site. Rhinoplasty- what most surgeons’ mentioned
seems to be a multi-step process. There
has to be an internal incision to fix the symmetry of his whole nose, including
an external one to fix the tip of his nose. The consultants described him the
anatomy of the nose and what has to be done before he can actually acquire his desirable
appearance.
“I started getting
mentally prepared, although I anticipated that the surgical procedure is
complex. Mom was giving me the courage that things will be better. Nothing else
mattered”. Blake shared about his feelings before surgery. His decision of getting himself under the knife
seemed essential at that moment. He was not willing to accept people’s scorn and
wanted to get back to his ordinary life.
The surgery was held
few hours before he was transferred to the cabin. “At the beginning, I could
not feel anything, but after sometime I had unbearable headache. The doctors
gave me painkillers”. Blake was given strong dose of opiates to soothe his pain
along with some steroids to keep inflammation at lowest level. He was asked to
have bed rest for few days.
All the best wishes for Blake |
“I am really excited to see what’s inside these bandages.” Blake
said when I went to meet him one day after the surgery. “I had extreme
headache, but its fine now”, he admitted that he has started to feel optimistic
towards the operation and hopefully he will be able to get back to his own life.
After interviewing Blake in his operation room, I felt sanguine
in the same way that advancement of science and human expertise has indeed
contributions to change one’s life. All my best wishes to young Blake.