It was in late 2013 that Estevan’s Terry Walliser received the news that nobody wants to hear: he had cancer.
In his case, the cancer was in his nose, and so doctor’s would have to surgically remove that part of his body.
“They said there were no other options,” Walliser recalled in an interview with Lifestyles. “The only thing they could do was remove my nose. There were no other treatments out there available.”
But thanks to the Institute for Reconstructive Sciences and Medicine in Edmonton, Walliser has a new nose, a renewed sense of confidence and more willingness to be out in public. And he wants people to know about what the institute has done for him.
The first sign of a potential health issue came in August 2013, when he experienced a post-nasal drip. A lump appeared inside his nose a couple months later. The cancer diagnosis came in the middle on November, and the biopsy results arrived the following month. Within three weeks, he had the surgery.
“They called it an aggressive form of cancer,” said Walliser.
He had to undergo 30 radiation treatments to beat the cancer.
Walliser noted that nose cancer is fairly rare, but he is hearing more instances of it being diagnosed. A friend of his in Saskatoon who also had nose cancer was told it used to be diagnosed once per month, but now it is diagnosed about three times each month.
After his nose was removed, his doctor in Regina, plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Chang, informed Walliser of the clinic in Edmonton and the work it was doing. Chang then submitted a referral for Walliser to see Dr. Gordon Wilkes in Edmonton.
But that clinic is very busy, Walliser said, and it took about six months before the clinic had an opening for him to come up for a consultation. It would be another year before Walliser returned for his next consultation.
Walliser would go through a battery of operations in late 2015 and into 2016. His first operation came in December 2015, when loose skin was removed, and implants were added for the magnets that are needed for his nose.
He noted that custom-made abutments go onto the implants, and the magnets are attached to the abutments.
A temporary nose, which could be glued onto his face, was given to him in February 2016.
He had to go back to the clinic in Edmonton in July 2016 for another surgery and so that the clinic staff could see how the implants were holding up.
“Originally there was supposed to be five implants in there, but they only put three in, and the one didn’t take,” said Walliser. “The two were still good enough.”
At one point, while explaining how the magnets worked, he removed his nose to show how easily it can be dislodged.
Walliser was finally able to receive the new nose he uses today in October 2016. He actually has four noses, painted to be appropriate for different occasions. He has been wearing a summer nose in recent months.
The new nose has changed his life. After the original surgery in January 2014, Walliser would wear what he described as a splint with tape to cover up the part of his face where his nose used to be.
When he was out in public, he would hear children ask their parents what happened to his nose. He doesn’t hear those comments any longer.
“I would get double looks from everybody,” said Walliser. “Now they don’t even look anymore. They just walk by, and it’s made life a lot easier for being outside or for being in public.”
His wife was amazed when she saw how he looked for the first time after receiving the nose. She couldn’t believe it wasn’t his real nose. His family has also been amazed.
“For anybody that didn’t see me before, we had a reunion this summer, and they saw it and they said ‘Oh, wow!’” said Walliser.
Walliser said he was supposed to lose his sense of smell and 90 per cent of his sense of taste once his nose was removed, because the operation is invasive, but fortunately that didn’t happen.
There are some things he can’t do even with his new nose, such as swimming, because the force of the water would knock the nose off when he dives in. And the nose wouldn’t float, so it would be lost right away.
If he gets jarred hard, it would likely pop loose as well.
Walliser said the noses should last anywhere from a year to five years, depending on how well he takes care of it. He knows of one person who needs to get a replacement every year, but that’s because that person smokes and doesn’t take care of it.
Walliser is doing his best to take care of his noses, and hopes for positive comments when he returns to Edmonton next July for his annual checkup.
“If it’s starting to lose its consistency, they’ll do a new one,” said Walliser.
Walliser noted the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health covered the cost of the nose treatments, for which he is thankful. The one downside for what he has been through is he had to make about 15 trips to Edmonton for the consultations, the surgeries and the followup appointments.
He also had high praise for all of the doctors and healthcare workers, in both Regina and Edmonton, who dedicated time to treating him. He noted that when people found out he was under the care of Chang, they told him Chang was the best.
“The level of care and the speediness are what helped me,” said Walliser. “Everybody complains about the healthcare system, but everything went so fast, and it was excellent care.”
