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Post Traumatic
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Post Traumatic Testimonials
Lauren Huxley
After many years of surgery I didn't feel I could improve my face. The surgeons said they had done all they could on a surgical level but thank you Face Today you have changed my life.You have made my eye and scars on my face so fantastic that people can't tell that it has been damaged. My eye looks so symmetrical now and the scars on my face have disappeared. My confidence and self-esteem has been restored I now go out with a smile on my face. Family and friend say how great I look which means the world to me. I am still so young and will look forward to going out and enjoying my life again.
Love Lauren Huxley
Linda Balcanan
Originally, I went to Face Today to have my nose a little more turned up, non - surgically. I found Nicole’s website through much research on the Internet. In the course of my first appointment I explained what I wanted, unaware of all the other injectables that were available. I have had weak nerves on one side of my face, from birth trauma, which caused an asymmetry. I have had 26 operations to date to create balance. When she studied the dynamics of my muscular structure she suggested to relax the muscles that were overworking to make it even to the side that had the slight paralysis. At first I was hesitant, not wanting to do any more to my face because of all the pain I had been through in childhood and young adulthood. I was often the target of bullying and I was extremely shy, even suicidal. With Nicki offering to do the work for me I had nothing to lose as she explained the whole procedure to me very carefully. Also the fact she was a nurse and worked with a doctor in a clinical environment was comforting to me.
She evened out my lips, turned up my nose, and relaxed the ‘working side’ of my face. It was relatively painless considering what other surgeries I had. When she held the mirror to my face, I started crying because for the first time I felt normal, I felt beautiful. This is what my face should look like, I thought. I lived with what I had for all these years. I wished I had found out sooner that these injectables were available for people who have similar problems like me, where it's not for vanity but for reaching a level of being free from a physical disorder. I have had a great micro surgeon, plastic surgeon and ophthalmologist – and this for me, was the icing on the cake. My self-confidence was heightened to a place I had never experienced before, I bought makeup, a new wardrobe, went overseas by myself and began looking up instead of at the ground. Also, as a result of Nikki's fabulous work on me, my smile for once is even as is my whole facial structure, I feel like I am a new person.
Deb Lawson
Debs story of surviving cancer and having her face rebalanced and restored, her confidence and smile returned by the Face Today Team.
I have always been a picture of health, Sporty and very active. I married had two children. Life was pretty good, I had no reason to suspect anything was wrong the day I was breastfeeding my first baby, when I coughed with such vigour, my shoulder came out of its socket. There was enough pain for me to go to the doctor, who said that having just had a baby your body needs time to recover, so his advice was to take it easy and maybe get some physio. After a couple of visits the pain stopped but the shoulder kept dropping. Over the next seven years I had my second child, my marriage ended and more medical implications began to surface. My shoulder kept dropping, my face then started to drop on one side and my voice gradually got to the point it was a double tone sound that, made me sound like I was a love child of R2D2. I visited several doctors and was told everything from its anxiety, stress, and even an allergy, I was however never sent for tests.
I eventually found a Doctor that didn’t give the above excuses and he sent me to a Bone Specialist, Unfortunately, or in this case fortunately, I didn’t listen to his advice as he diagnosed tendonitis and the proposed solution being cutting the tendon. I knew I needed a second opinion as while I am not medically savvy, I did know my body and I couldn’t see how his diagnosis’s of tendonitis could be correct.
My doctor then sent me to an ENT Specialist and this man saved my life. He took one look down my throat asked me to say Arrr. The next words from him were I’m sending you to Brisbane to an expert Surgeon. I didn’t even ask what he thought it was I just got on the plane and went down there blind, knowing I was in good hands.
He sent me for a MRI and the results were loud and clear. I had a Brain Tumor! He then gave me two options. First one was to leave it there and I would die from it, the second was to have it removed and face a high possibility of not recovering, or at the very least I would recover but will be left with complications and disfigurement. Well I had two small children there was only one choice for me and I would deal with the result. I was assigned to three Awesome Specialist’s at RBH. A Neuro Surgeon, an ENT Surgeon and a Plastic Surgeon. My operation Date was Friday the 13th, ,Time in Surgery 13 Hours, Time in Hospital including intensive care 13 Days. I walked out of Hospital, (Slowly) but I walked, I lost 25kgs, My head was partially shaved, my wound had a huge sack of fluid build-up, My faced was messed up, My mouth was on a huge angle, one eye was lower than the other, I had to tape it to sleep, and I couldn’t drink from a cup.
I was glad I made it and I was alive, I looked in the mirror and accepted what I saw. The most important thing to me was I could still be a mum, I was lucky enough to have a second chance and I wasn’t going to dwell.
I was told I would be disfigured before they started, they said they would keep the damage to the minimum I trusted them and accepted what I saw. I then focused on getting stronger. I was back at work within two months. I had to raise two children, I just did what any parent would do. My children are now adults and my daughter is getting married, and this is the reason I am sharing my story as I have been given the gift of getting my beauty back by a group of angels.
My daughter took me and one of her Bridesmaids to the Bridal Expo. It was a fantastic day, Every display was really great, everyone was really helpful, part of the day was entering into competitions, I entered a few but never gave it another thought, then I received a call saying I had won the “Mother of the Bride Make over”, from FaceToday Medi clinic, I couldn’t believe it and was nervous and excited. I went and met with the ladies at FaceToday , and I have to tell you, I have never taken time out for me, and sitting in the waiting room, I almost left because I felt out of my depth. Nicki, Kerie, Fran and Kim made me feel like part of their family, I felt like I was meant to be there. They were so reassuring; I just relaxed and let them weave their magic. Face Today went over and above their budget from what I was meant to win as ‘Mother of the Bride” they wanted to help me heal the wounds of time. They specialise in Bells Palsy and non-surgical reconstructive work, I couldn’t believe my luck, someone up there was looking after me.
I have always felt the same on the inside as before the operation, I just never focused on what it looked like on the outside. But I was concerned about the wedding I wanted to look good for Jess and Grant.
I attended Face Today for my planned “reconstructive Journey” over the next two months. I enjoyed going to each appointment and after every visit I just looked better and younger and felt more confident, I felt my heart swell and my smile return, I could see the old Deb coming back, the girls skills worked magic, and all this for free!
Well, all I can say is I look awesome. I now look in the mirror and see the beautiful woman on the inside matches the woman on the outside, its breath taking and I can’t think of any words that would say it. I am looking at me for the first time in years. Life has taught me to Accept the things I can’t change, but recently with the help of some awesome ladies, I have learnt that I should accept and embrace the things I CAN Change.
Thank you Face Today for such a wonderful gift that has changed my life for ever.
Rebecca Galea
In late 2003, I awoke to notice that my smile was slightly asymmetrical on the right hand side, over the next few weeks I noticed that my right eye was struggling to close properly. An MRI of my head and neck revealed a malignant tumour in my parotid gland in my neck. The Drs informed me that the cancer had spread to my facial nerve on the right side of my face and that was causing the asymmetry in my face. The parotid gland was then removed in a 10hour long operation and my facial nerve was also removed on the right hand side and traced back through my ear to the brain stem. A healthy nerve was then taken from my ankle and grafted back into the right side of my face. The Drs had informed me that the new nerve will take up to 2 years to begin working and that I will never have facial symmetry again. When I awoke from the operation, I had total facial paralysis on the right hand side of my face, I couldn’t even drink from a cup without dribbling. I was devastated, wouldn’t look in a mirror and didn’t want to socialise.
In time the nerve noticeably began to recover, from a functional sense I could drink from a cup without dribbling the surgeons had done a brilliant job, but I was never happy I could not smile or laugh without being self-conscious – my life was never going to be the same again. That was until 2008, when I made an appointment at Face Today where I met cosmetic injector Nicole Bell and Dr Williamson who told me that could achieve facial symmetry by using anti-wrinkle injections and fillers to relax the active side of my face to look more like my paralysed side. It was only a month after my first treatment, in October 2008, that I noticed a significant difference, my jaw line and my eyebrows had evened up my smile had also become balanced. For the first time in years I felt confident again. Life was looking rosy again – all thanks to Nicole and Dr Williamson who literally worked wonders and changed my life forever. I am forever grateful to the head and neck surgeons that saved my life but I am just as grateful to Face Today for giving me a new lease on life, I cannot believe that such a significant difference to my appearance was achieved without surgery, just the prick of a needle and often same day results. Rebecca Galea x
