re: Scars are beautiful

I was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. The scar on my lip is a contest reminder. The scars in my mouth from surgeries, constant reminder. Scar on my hip from my surgeries, constant reminder. But I'm stronger for everything I went through with this. I still to this day get made fun of for having this birth defect.
After having my lip closed..
Now, 22 years later, after all surgeries have been completed.

Quoting Chloe's Mommy 8.26.2012:" I was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate. The scar on my lip is a contest reminder. The scars ... [snip!] ... of for having this birth defect. After having my lip closed.. Now, 22 years later, after all surgeries have been completed. "

I'm sorry people are so mean.

It's okay.. like I said, it only makes me stronger. I have lots of scars from this. The one that is seen the most though is the one that's on my lip and up the side of my nose.

Quoting Chloe's Mommy 8.26.2012:" It's okay.. like I said, it only makes me stronger. I have lots of scars from this. The one that is seen the most though is the one that's on my lip and up the side of my nose."

You are beautiful.

Quoting Ellie Shikari:" You are beautiful."

Thank you=)

Andrea. My biggest scar is straight down my chest. I had open heart surgery when I was four years old, I had a hole in the main valve, so basically as blood was pumping through it would just pour out, instead of going through. They told my mom that they gave me until 18 without a surgery.

I used to be ashamed of it, but now, I'm proud it's there. It's not too noticeable anymore, but here are some pictures.

Quoting Andreahhh:" Andrea. My biggest scar is straight down my chest. I had open heart surgery when I was four years old, ... [snip!] ... I used to be ashamed of it, but now, I'm proud it's there. It's not too noticeable anymore, but here are some pictures. "

How strong of a 4 year old you were!! Cool scar too ;) You should have never been ashamed of it. I especially love how you got your chest tattooed as well. I want mine tatted someday. Don't know how yet. But yours is wonderful.

Quoting Ҿcɧơ:" How strong of a 4 year old you were!! Cool scar too ;) You should have never been ashamed of it. I especially ... [snip!] ... love how you got your chest tattooed as well. I want mine tatted someday. Don't know how yet. But yours is wonderful. "

Well, I was always made fun of for it as a kid. It used to be much more prominent. I really shouldn't have cared, because it was a lifesaving surgery! But, you know how kids can be.

Thank you! My chest tattoo is my favorite one! I always think they are so pretty.

Mine are pretty faded, mainly because I used a thin razor and made thin cuts... but yeah, I used to self injurer as a teenager and occasionally as a young adult. I've done it less and less through the years. My husband has helped me control it a lot. I want to get a tattoo on my forearm of a Magic the Gathering card called Regenerate http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Guay/i/Regenerate-11x16.jpg. My husband is big into Magic and the card speaks volumes to me about how he helped me.



Andreahh: What's your chest tattoo say? I can't quite make it out.

Quoting Mðmmå Çhï¢lꆆê~ 9wks:" Mine are pretty faded, mainly because I used a thin razor and made thin cuts... but yeah, I used to self ... [snip!] ... the card speaks volumes to me about how he helped me. Andreahh: What's your chest tattoo say? I can't quite make it out."

It looks like it might say, "Thank you for being a part of my forget me nots and marigolds"

From a car wreck I had. I am lucky I am alive. I love my scars  


My knee caps smile!

Quoting Chloe's Mommy 8.26.2012:" It looks like it might say, "Thank you for being a part of my forget me nots and marigolds""

It does.   From a song by Motion City Soundtrack.

i was born with Neurofibromatosis type 1,basically what that means is the bones in my right leg are severely deformed.they grew in the shape of a "S" and i started wearing a leg brace at the age of 3 months.despite wearing the braces to correct the issue it did not work. my leg would spontaneously fracture from the pressure put on my bones from them trying to grow.at the age of 3 i had my first operation.they removed my hip bone and placed it in my right leg with a metal rod to try to prevent further fracturing. but after 3 surgeries and being in a lower body cast 3 times for 6 months each they realized my leg could not be saved.my leg had completely stopped growing,it was 3 inches shorter than my left and i had the muscle mass of a 4 year old.Then at the age of 7 I decided that the best option would be amputation.my parents could not make such a life changing choice for me and after talking to the drs and understanding what i meant i told them to amputate it. on March 3rd 1999 i went in for the operation. when they amputated it they discovered nothing but mangled nerves and tumors in the lower part of my leg.(i get the tumors everywhere)
since then i have had 5 more operations just on my right leg,1 on my left leg and 3 surgeries on my head all to remove tumors. and in 2 weeks im having yet another surgery on my right leg to reconstruct the ligaments in my knee.


me at 2 years old,before any surgeries. wearing my tiny leg brace


the scar from my amputation

sorry it took so long to get my entry in
i forgot about the contest

When I was about 4 years old I had a bone cyst that started growing on my breastbone. The doctors watched it and each month it seemed to get bigger and bigger. They were afraid at some point it would put pressure on my heart so they decided to remove it. Right after they removed it I hit a growth spurt and stretched out the scar. I had a couple of cosmetic surgeries to try and "repair" it but each time it just made it worse. The rest of my life I would go on being picked on just about a daily basis because people thought that it was a hickey. I struggled with it throughout high school, especially when it came time to pick out dresses or sports uniforms that would show it. To this day I still get asked if it is a hickey but now I like to mess with people and tell them its where I got stabbed (because I was a correctional nurse for 4 years)