Will the NHS fund plastic surgery to repair the damage from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

[loverofcreation]

I believe my mother was an alcoholic while she was pregnant with me, as I have every facial symptom of FAS aside from the thin upper lip. Here are a list of surgeries I will need so my face appears normal;

*Skin around my eyes (in every direction) removed.

 

*My nose needs refining, and my nostrils need to be lifted up, and narrowed. Tip of the nose needs to  descend.

 

*My jaw and cheekbones need shaving, they are too wide! I have a very small face, so these two make my face look too big 

 

*The corners of my lips need lifting, I have a constant sagging frown, also, my philtrum is too long. My entire mouth area needs to be lifted. My mouth is low, so when I smile my gums are too visible.

 

My appearance is so horrendous I was diagnosed with agoraphobia, severe depression, and my mother also has called me ugly, asking why I am so ugly. I've had to drop out of college because the stress and anger of seeing normally developed people broke my heart a little too much.

[ForestP]

Hey loverofcreation

You sure you don't have BDD? I am close to someone who does and they say a lot of what you have. Is it possible that these flaws are just perceived and not in fact as prominent as you believe they may be?

First thing to do is speak to your GP about this. They will be able to talk about this in more detail with you and explain what options are available.

I think it's really important to accept yourself for who you are and what you look like. I actually disagree with plastic surgery completely. People are not supposed to all look the same, "ugly" is just someone's opinion and true beauty is in the differences.

Your mother doesn't sound like a very nice person, I wouldn't pay attention to her comments about your appearance, seems like she is constrained by a narrow minded view of how things should be, don't like that cage become yours. Remember normal isn't a real standard, we aren't units off a production line, every one of us is unique, we all look different and there are no 2 people who look the same (even identical twins have subtle differences).

If I were in your shoes I would focus on accepting myself rather than changing things that probably don't need changing.

[loverofcreation]

12 hours ago, ForestP said:

Hey loverofcreation

You sure you don't have BDD? I am close to someone who does and they say a lot of what you have. Is it possible that these flaws are just perceived and not in fact as prominent as you believe they may be?

First thing to do is speak to your GP about this. They will be able to talk about this in more detail with you and explain what options are available.

I think it's really important to accept yourself for who you are and what you look like. I actually disagree with plastic surgery completely. People are not supposed to all look the same, "ugly" is just someone's opinion and true beauty is in the differences.

Your mother doesn't sound like a very nice person, I wouldn't pay attention to her comments about your appearance, seems like she is constrained by a narrow minded view of how things should be, don't like that cage become yours. Remember normal isn't a real standard, we aren't units off a production line, every one of us is unique, we all look different and there are no 2 people who look the same (even identical twins have subtle differences).

If I were in your shoes I would focus on accepting myself rather than changing things that probably don't need changing.

No, it's not BDD because my doctor agreed with me about my facial deformities, and so did my mother, and other people, including a hormone specialist who told me I looked like I had severe hormonal issues while I was growing. 

 

People with BDD usually hate everything about themselves. Meanwhile I like my lips, they're shaped like a heart/cupid's bow. I also like my ears. They're elf shaped...I like how my lower eyelids cast shadows onto my cheeks. I also have a mutation which means I have double eyelashes, but the excess skin kind of hides the prominent lashes.

 

I already spoke with my GP and she was so concerned she immediately referred me to a specialized psychiatrist who deals with cases such as mine. It's protocol that if the GP cannot see the problems, then she would not have me referred to that specialized service and instead just prescribe me medication or refer me to a standard psychiatrist. It's very hard to be referred to the special psychiatrist unless the GP determines it's absolutely necessary as there are only five of these psychiatrists in the UK. 

 

The ''accepting yourself'' does not work. I've tried that with over 12 different psychiatrists the past 10 years. I was drugged to the eyeballs, still doesn't work. Beating around the bush is not going to cut it. 

[ForestP]

I've been wondering aince you came here a few things:

Do you know what is real and what isn't?

Do you thrive on attention?

Do you believe what you say or is some of it fantasy?

Just curious.

Forest

[doormouse]

Loverofcreation - Hi!  I'm mousey, don't hang around the forums much anymore, but just spotted this one!

Ths answer to your question is essentially, maybe.  Which isn't very helpful!

I would focus on trying to get to the specialist psychiatrist - FAS is so complex, and encompasses a really wide spectrum of features and difficulties, so I really hope you get to see a proper expert.  It's only just being recognised, in retrospect, in adults, so there aren't, as yet, hard and fast rules about referals and funding for things like corrective surgery.

I think its going to be important to think about how your facial features make you feel, and what you hope would change for you on the inside if you had surgery.  I'm not saying it's just a case of "accepting yourself," but sometimes it's easy to feel that being a certain way, a certain procedure etc etc will somehow "solve" things. Changing your face is a big deal - lots of people have what are described as "grief reactions" to the loss of their 'old' face, even if they felt they disliked it. If surgery is approved, and you are clear about what you are expecting to get out of it both physically and emotionally, I hope the specialist psychiatrist will be able to support you to make the right choice for you.

Best of luck

Mx