September to October 1969

I can remember parts of my first nasal reconstruction in September and October 1969. I had three surgeries in a three-week period. All three surgeries were done at Research Hospital (now called Research Medical Center). The first surgery was to prep the inside of my left arm to be grafted to my face. A couple of days after the surgery, I was allowed to go home for a couple of days. Then a week later, my PS went in and did the actual attaching of my left arm to my face to create my first nose. I remember being in a head-to-waist cast. My PS had created a nose for me using skin from the inside of my left arm. My arm was attached to my nose from Sept. 18th until Oct. 2nd.

I don't remember the night I nearly died while I was in the cast. I was under sedation. The PS wanted me to keep quiet. And he did not want me in ICU because he thought it might be too traumatic for me since I was only five years old at the time. One night, my mom was reading to me. She just happen to look up and notice that I was not breathing. She ran out of the room and down to the nurses' station. Everyone came running. Obviously, they got me breathing again. :-) After that, they kept me on oxygen.

I remember being in the cast. The cast went from the top of my head to my waist. My head was turned to the left about 90 degrees or so. The bed was turned so I could watch television. The only way I could get out of bed: A nurse would pick me up and lay me on a gurney. I think that the only times I was allowed out of bed was to get a bath. I can remember the color of the room, which was blue. It was a four-bed room. Usually, the older girls were in this room. But the nursing staff decided to put me in this room since I would be bedridden for while. Plus, everyone figured that I would need some entertainment. When I woke up from the surgery on Oct. 2nd, it is said that I told the nurse taking care of me in Recovery that I did and said the following: I reached up and touched my nose. I told her that I have a nose now and that I could go to school.