Last steps of cosmetic recovery

Acclaimed Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Frankel, did a spectacular job with cosmetic reconstruction.  Actually, that is an understatement, because when he began, my mouth wasn't even fully functional.  I could only drink through a straw and had trouble keeping saliva and food inside.  Preliminary skin grafting done in Seattle was just the beginning.  Dr. Frankel performed two more rounds of skin grafting among the many procedures to re-design a functional, cosmetically cohesive mouth.  Dr. Sergio O'Campo from Imperial Dental in LaMirada provided veneer teeth, then Dr. Frankel spent 3 years reconstructing me.  Cutting edge procedures were implemented to match the tone of skin flesh.  The finishing touches are now being performed by the fabulous ELizabeth Hanratty, a professional working with Dr. Lancer (Beverly Hills Dermatologist) to infuse permanent cosmetic make-up.  Through a series of procedures, Elizabeth Hanratty is defining my lipline.  In some places, she's turning scarred white tissue to pink, in other spots, she's turning grafted pink tissue back to caucasian flesh tones.  It looks pretty extreme the first week or so, but Elizabeth Hanratty is putting the finishing touches on Dr. Frankel's masterful work and I am bursting with thankfulness and appreciation for them among the dozen who have contributed towards my medical recovery.  There's  more than a little bit of love from each one of them, woven into the very fabric  of the better ME!  Here in the US, the Smile program provides cosmetic reconstruction to  survivors of domestic violence (to those who prosecute) as coordinated by domestic violence advocates in each jurisdiction.  In my case, that was the incredible Emily Elting, who handles felony cases in King County.  I could write an entire blog just about all the amazing support Emily provided, and look forward to sharing snipets on future blogs.  Til then, be safe, and remember the National Hotline awaits your call at 1-800-799-SAFE.  I LOVE YOU!