Reconstruction and Recovery After Massive Burn

Forty years ago, a 33-year-old female suffered a 35% total body surface area burn after the car in which she was a passenger caught fire in a rear-end collision. She experienced second- and third-degree burns of her face, head, back, arms, and hands.

After immediate burn resuscitation, the patient underwent approximately 40 reconstructive procedures over the course of the first 17 years after her burns.

While finding social situations difficult to endure, the patient developed tools to help her face the public.

These tools included confident body language, verbal responses, and makeup application. This case report details surgical procedures the patient underwent and her own lasting contribution through establishing the first hospital-based Image Enhancement and Behavioral Skills program along with her extensive work with the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.