Update!
I recently accepted a full-time job (Am I a grown up yet?) that's allowed me to change my health care plan, and am now revising my health team. I've been a Kaiser member since birth, but thought I would change it up a little to get a new perspective on care so I signed up for Athem Blue Cross PPO. I haven't really decided on how my doctors compare, but thought I would give Stanford a shot---especially cause I've been dealing with these keloids since forever. Converting health care plans is no fun. I've had to get my records in order, request my files be transferred and also get referred again related things I've been seeing doctors for a long time for.
Hopefully this change will be worth a shot. I saw a Plastic Surgery doctor today for the first time at Stanford in Palo Alto. I cried in the office when explaining my treatment history, what I've tried, modalities that did not work. It seems like there's little any doctor can do. It was hard to get the words out and explain to the new doctor why I switched to a new hospital. It's not that I didn't like my old doctor, it just started to feel a bit routine. I wanted to new person to consult with. There has been so many times I've considered flying down to LA or New York for a new professional's opinion. These scars are unpredictable and tricky, especially with the placement of my scars being directly located mid chest where there is so much tension. I guess I'm a little sad that I lost my old doctor with the insurance switch. She's been with me since my keloid excision and watched me grow up in a lot of ways.
I was able to get a round of kenelog shots in, which is pretty normal maintenance for my scars. It's starting to feel like getting an oil change, haha. Just something I need to do every 3 months. Anyway, the Stanford doctor thinks I should stop with Cordran tape (what!) and solely use silicon sheets 24-7. New doctor, new opinions---so I am willing to try this too.
New news: New doctor is willing to excise again. I'm scared though. I've excised before with a worse re-occurrence of the original scar. He thinks it could be different, followed immediately by radiation. It's something to think about. What are your thoughts world? Worth a shot?
Ahh hello welcome back! I have been waiting for an update post. I know switching insurance can be a huge struggle and having to recount your treatment and experience with your keloids. I hope you have a positive experience with your new doctor. I’ve always been interested in excising but of course am scared, especially since my keloids aren’t THAT bad (it still sucks have an almost 2 inch scare in the middle of my chest, though). I’m excited to see more updates from you!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I live in LA, and from my experience I’m not sure if coming down to LA would be as fruitful as you might want. I get routine steroid injections but have also been getting laser treatment (out of pocket, about $200 a session. I don’t see too much benefit... I think I just want to keep using it to be hopeful.) However, I have mostly been getting the most convenient and I guess the cheapest options, aside from laser. For my steroid injections, I don’t even go to a dermatologist specialist but a general physician at my school clinic who has been train and experienced with doing steroid injections for keloids for years. I would say I haven’t seen a difference in the expertise between my new physician and my old dermatologist (if anything my old dermatologist was less understanding and helpful, and more expensive!) so I feel you! Everything seems routine. I kind of wish I would venture out a bit and get more consultations, but I’m not in a place to spend any more than I already do.
For the silicon sheets, I used to use them pretty routinely but have fallen in and out of habit of the years. When I use them though, I am pretty diligent. I would say I hadn’t seen any reduction per se, but it helps it a bit from being worse? When using the silicon sheets, my keloid would generally be less puffy. It would have a shriveled texture though as opposed to smooth, but still less puffy. However once I stopped, the puffiness would come back again and it would continue to spread.
Thank you for sharing your insight! I really appreciate it.
DeleteThanks for sharing, you may want to follow this guy:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/Keloids/comments/epax0h/keloid_radiation_surgery_keloids_have_been_shaved/
He had his chest keloids shaved and is doing radiation for them.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThought I'd share my experience
I had Bleomycin shots injected into my keloid - it's the same chest area as yours. This significantly flattened my keloid. Kenelog never worked for me, and if it has not worked for you, probably best to move on.
Even though my keloid flattened, it still needed to be "smoothed" out, there was some residual bumps on the edges of the keloid site. Doctor tried using a combination of fraxel laser + belomycin/kenelog, but the results varied since it seemed sometimes the laser would flatten it and other sessions it would cause areas to flare up. Even if the doctor got lucky and it looked flattened - any slight trauma in the future would likely cause it to flare up.
I was recently then referred to and had radiotherapy on the site - so will have to wait a few months to see the full effect.
It seems surgery + radiotherapy straight away has the best reported effects per medical journals.
So right now, only thing I can attest to from experience that works is Bleomycin. However, the injection is extremely painful - even with a local anesthetic.
I would love to hear more about Bleomycin! I will ask my doctor about it the next time I see him.
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