Reconstructive surgery at Mass Eye and Ear helps skin cancer patients feel like themselves again
Surgeons at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston have found a creative way to make their skin cancer patients look good as new.
Our noses typically see the most sun exposure, making them prone to skin cancer. When doctors remove the cancer, patients may be left disfigured or even suffer permanent breathing problems.
"My goal is, one year after surgery, your cancer is cleared, you've finished your reconstruction, you're sitting in a brightly lit room like this, and people talking to you don't notice your scars," said Dr. Linda Lee, a facial plastic surgeon at the clinic.
Nasal surgery at Mass Eye and Ear
To achieve that, surgeons borrow skin from the forehead and attach it to the tip of the nose, where it remains for several weeks.
"At the beginning, you almost have a little hose giving your skin graft blood supply. And then after it's survived and it's happy, you can take that little trunk of skin and just actually, in a second little surgery, we just throw it in the trash," Lee said.
Mass Eye and Ear does more of these types of reconstructive surgeries than most other centers in the country.
"We just find a way to reconstruct whatever is missing to kind of put you back to as normal as possible," said Lee.
"I could see the inside of my nose"
Jeanmarie Finocchio was a typical high school sun worshipper. But for more than 30 years, she's been covering up.
"I was always the one under the blanket, under the umbrella," Finocchio said.
So it came as a surprise when two years ago the 61-year-old noticed a small white patch on her nose.
Her diagnosis was basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. After four procedures to remove the cancer, she was left with a gaping hole.
"I could see the cartilage, I could see the inside of my nose," said Finocchio.
Finocchio said there was practically no pain from her reconstruction, and her friends and family are amazed by the results.
"They're like, 'I can't believe you have that, you know, you grew a nose,'" she said.
"I think at the beginning, it is very scary, because you look weird," said Lee. "In the end, patients usually are happy they went through it.
Most importantly, Finocchio is glad to be cancer-free.
