Experience: I lost my nose. Now I have seven different ones to choose from | Life and style

I I hated my nose when I was younger. I thought they were huge and pointy, and when I was little, my classmates called me Concorde. As an adult, my husband would playfully bow when I turned around. But other than it wasn’t the neat little nose I dreamed of, it didn’t cause me any problems.

In 2012, as I was walking near my home in Redditch, Worcestershire, my dog, Sissy, jumped up at me and nuzzled my nose. It was sore, but it wasn’t broken. After a few days, it was still painful and started to swell.

Weeks passed and I felt constantly blocked. The doctors had no idea what was wrong with me, and it took two years before I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called vasculitis, which destroys blood vessels. It had been dormant for years, but was stimulated by the impact.

I was given chemotherapy tablets, but my nose began to deform. The vasculitis caused my blood vessels to become inflamed, restricting blood flow to my nose and damaging tissue. He was collapsing in on himself, and I couldn’t leave the house without people staring at me.

I became afraid to go out. Strangers would ask me if my husband had attacked me, or if I was addicted to cocaine. One time, I ran into an old school friend, and she was shaking and shaking when she saw me. It was soul destroying. She barely left home for five years. I had to stop working because the treatment made me so exhausted. My life was a shell of what it used to be.

I reached a point where I could no longer taste or smell. The worst part was not being able to smell my kids and husband when they hugged me. It was something I didn’t even realize I could miss. Fortunately, I have an incredibly strong marriage and I know that my husband, Martin, loves me no matter what.

By 2017, my nose had completely collapsed and my face was completely flat. It finally recovered, but the doctors told me there was nothing that could be done to save my nose.

I was very lucky to be placed under the care of a team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, who built me ​​a prosthetic nose. The head prosthetist asked for old photos of me so she could create a similar nose, but I didn’t want my old nose back. I said to her, “I quite like your nose,” and she made me her model. Every day I thank my lucky stars that I met this amazing woman.

I attached three magnets to the hole where my nose used to be, and now I attach my nose every morning and it sticks in place. I have several different noses, there were seven at last count. Since my skin tone changes through the seasons, my skin tones are a little different. I once told them that I felt self-conscious after going out for a few drinks: my face was a little red, but my nose wasn’t. Then they made me a “drunk nose” which is a little pinker than the rest. I put it in my bag when I go out. I keep them all in a wooden tea chest, after the dog grabs one and chews it.

I don’t wear my nose overnight. I rinse my piercing every morning when I wake up, then I just put it on my nose, and that’s it for the rest of the day.

The strange embarrassing incident has happened. Sometimes, if I wear a tight sweater over my head, I’ll accidentally hit my nose. A particularly ferocious sneeze set off her once, too. But now it doesn’t bother me when people see me pulling my nose off.

I spread awareness about my condition and hold talks with doctors through the Vasculitis UK Society. I always remove my nose on stage, because I think it makes me memorable, and I hope my story helps them diagnose someone else.

People ask me if I blame my dog, but I think she saved me. I was always going to develop this condition at some point. There’s no guarantee I won’t have vasculitis again, but I’m in remission now, and I’m really glad it happened to me — and in hindsight, I think it made me a better person. I am more empathetic and find joy in the simple things in life. I don’t take hugs from my husband or my kids for granted. Just being alive is a true privilege that I’m honored to have.

As told to Heather Maine

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