March 2, 2016 -- Going back in

The titanium has treated me very well, and for the most part, the scars of DFSP have never really affected my life. My flap has also held up like a champ and never gives me any problems. I highly recommend the wide excision procedure for complete removal of the cancer. It may look gnarly, but I really have been pleased with the results.

After over 2 years of serious cancer free life livin', and we certainly try to live life to the fullest, it was time to replace the titanium mesh with a more permanent PEEK implant like the one shown below. A couple of the reasons to do this are that the PEEK will be a stronger/more permanent and will not affect scans the way the titanium does. Is it the right choice to mess with such a good thing?? That’s TBD.

The initial procedure to replace the mesh with the PEEK went beautifully as planned. Photos of  the removed mesh with the mold of my skull used to shape the titanium follow below. Really shows the size of the excision.



Post operation #1