Half of my Face Rotted Off! - Redding, CA~Say NO to Radiesse!

Just a tiny bit of pitting left after 4 years. I wear it like a badge of courage. This experience has been a blessing in countless ways. If this happens to you, DO NOT give up! Trust me, this is an opportunity to grow from within, and there is technology today can really help. Be patient...

Today marks the 4th anniversary of my injury.

I realized this morning that I am not angry at the injector who treated me that day. She didn't do this on purpose, and she probably learned as much as I learned that day. She probably suffered too. I feel badly for not doing the personal work to forgive her and reach out to her until today. I did reach out to her today, and hope she understands why I have not reached out until now. Forgiveness doesn't always go two ways, but hopefully it will in this case.

I have not yet forgiven Merz for dropping me like trash when I got injured. I chose not to pursue legal action, but I have not forgotten how rude and heartless the company was 4 years ago today. Perhaps if they followed up with me just once, I would be able to let it go. So far, nothing. I will not use any of their products on my patients going forward.

When I look in the mirror I still see physical scars from that fateful day 4 years ago. The funny thing is, no one else seems to see them. I consider them a badge of courage. This incident truly made me stronger, and I am proud of those pits and scars.

This week was interesting, as I found my poor, injured face plastered to some physician's website in Florida. He must have copied my photo from this site. He used my sad, pathetic face as an example, and didn't bother to block my eyes. I have mixed feelings about this. I posted here to spread awareness of what can happen, and what signs for injectors to look for, but I didn't ever dream I'd be copied and pasted without permission. Without permission, I cannot be sure the content out there is accurate or being used for prevention. I respectfully ask any and all people who want to use my photos to please contact me first on this site and let me know how the photo will be used, and tell me the context. I am all for spreading awareness, but don't want to be the poster lady for someone's personal gain.

Thank you for reading. For all of those who have been injured due to a vascular injury post injection, my advise to you is to be patient... sometimes it takes as long as 4 years (or more) to fully heal and reflect. Someday you may find that your soul grew throughout the experience, and it was actually a blessing. I have definitely become a better cosmetic injector, and a more compassionate nurse. Sometimes G-d gives us wonderful gifts, but not necessarily wrapped in pretty packaging.

Warmly,
J

I am often asked on here how I resolved the extensive scarring from the ischemic event caused by Radiesse after their injector trainer blocked my blood flow to my cheek. The first 3 months required many wet-to-dry dressings, antibiotics, nitro paste (extremely painful), anti viral medications, aquaphore, xeroform dressings, and anti anxiety medicine. It is tough to relax when you don't know if you'll always look like a monster. I also would recommend hyperbaric oxygen treatments early on, but I didn't have this done due to time restraints.
After the first 3 months, I tried several things to address several problems over the last 3 years. My injury left me with hyper pigmentation, permanent hypo pigmentation, redness, and permanent pitting. Ironically, I used filler products for pitting, such as Juvederm and Sculptra. For the redness, I used a vascular laser (VP532 from a VersaPulse C). It's a dinosaur laser, but it works so well. For hyper pigmentation and pitting I also used both Fraxel Re:Store and Syneron's Sublative lasers. I also tried to break up the scar tissue with needles and microcannulas under my dermis. Finally, I used Obagi's hydroquinone cream to even out the color. It has cost thousands of dollars, even at cost, but I'm very happy with the results. The pitting and hypo pigmentation will be permanent, but I have managed to reduce it quite a bit with the above treatments. I hope this blog can help others move on after a similar injury.
Finally, I recommend healing your mind as well as your skin. This injury is both physical and psychological. It truly runs deep. It helped me to go to work and "face" my injury. I work as a cosmetic injector, so this gave me an opportunity to talk about the reasons it is important to have a knowledgeable injector who cares about what happens. It was extremely hard to do this, but it truly made me stronger and my patients appreciated the honesty and education. If this has happened to you, you may need to get professional help so the depression doesn't take you down. I went about life as usual, and even went forward with our planned mother/daughter Bat (B'not) Mitzvah 3 months after the injury with my bright red scar. Just know that there will be beautiful healing, but it will take a while. You are beautiful because your soul is beautiful, and your skin will eventually catch up. Take care, J.