HASTA LA VISTA, UNICORN!
Today is a big day for me. Actually, last Friday was the real big day, but today I got to see the result of what was done on Friday. I also got to finally wash my hair… although I ended up going to the hairdresser after all, but I’m getting ahead of myself because I’m overexcited.
About 12 years ago I bumped my head really hard on the iron bar that goes underneath the horse’s bottom when they’re traveling in a horse trailer. The trailer was empty, but the bar was in place, and I was picking my horse up from a veterinarian clinic after he’d had an operation. I bent down underneath the bar of the trailer to grab my horse’s leg protections, totally misjudged the distance when I stood up, and hit the centre of my forehead really hard. I saw ALL the stars. My forehead split open. There was blood everywhere, and the vet had to take care of me for a good hour before I was in any state to load my horse and embark on the two-hour drive home. To be honest, I probably shouldn’t have driven at all, but I just wanted to get out of there.
Anyway, I made it back with the horse, and developed a huge bruise on my forehead that gradually turned into all those amazing colours that come with all the best bruises. But for some stupid reason, I didn’t see a doctor about it. I guess horsey people tend to take better care of their horses than of themselves…
Over time, the bruise solidified and turned into a calcification. I literally grew a round lump of bony protection right in the centre of my forehead. I joked I was turning into a unicorn. Or a rhinoceros. But on the inside, I wasn’t laughing.
The bump stabilized for a while, but I think I walked into a window at some point, and disturbed the area, and it got bigger, to the point where whenever I looked at myself in the mirror it was all that I could see. I became increasingly self-conscious and hated having my photograph taken. It also hurt if ever I had to lie face-down or lean my forehead against something.
Here is a recent photo of where you can see my bump. Yuck.
Over the years, I asked a few doctors about it, but none had any solutions, apart from scary talk of major plastic surgery. Randomly, about two months ago, I saw a doctor for something totally different, mentioned my bump, and he told me to call doctor so-and-so, who referred me to another doctor who specializes in maxillofacial surgery, who saw me very quickly and told me it was no big deal at all. After all these years of feeling crap about myself!
I had the operation under a general anesthesia last Friday, and the stitches came out this morning. The bump is gone! The scarring is minimal since I only had four stitches! Basically, the surgeon made a small incision, split the calcification, took it out, and then literally polished my skull! The whole procedure was quick and painless; I was out of hospital a few hours later and didn’t even need paracetamol the next day.
I have a tiny STERIStrip to keep it dry for two more days, which is why I had to have my hair washed at the hairdresser (I have bad neck issues and can’t lean over a bath or tilt my head backwards) and am happily channeling a slight Kelly McGillis “Top Gun” vibe, but I can already see and feel that the result is amazing.
Of course, I’m a little conflicted about writing about this when there is so much horrendous suffering going on in the world right now, but we can’t just shut down and walk on the dark side.
Maybe my experience can help someone else find a doctor for a similar problem. Also, if you bump your head hard, please see a doctor, because if I had seem one immediately, maybe I wouldn’t have turned into a unicorn/rhinoceros.