Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon took the first step last week toward helping a Carson City woman get back the face she lost 24 years ago to a ferret.
Michelle Bowers returned home from Los Angeles on Saturday after undergoing surgery on her upper lip, reconstructive cartilage surgery on her nose and breast augmentation for the television show "Extreme Dr. 90210." She will return for a second round of surgeries later this month, she said.
Bowers' struggle with cigarette addiction and the fact that she might not be able to have the surgery was a season cliffhanger, which aired in December for the E Television show. But in May, when the new season premiers, the petite woman will be featured with her new face.
When Bowers was just
29 days old, the Carson City family's pet ferret crept into Bowers' crib and ate her lips and nose.
By age 8, she had undergone 38 surgeries to repair the damage, before doctors told her she would have to wait until she was done growing to complete the surgeries.
Two years ago, at the urging of a friend, Bowers flew to Los Angeles to consult with Dr. Gary Motykie of the television show, "Dr. 90210." The show highlights dramatic physical transformations through plastic surgery.
In August, the high-profile plastic surgeon contacted her and said he wanted to operate.
Everything was supposed to be done on Feb. 20, said Michelle.
"But they opened me up and they expected a (nose) bridge, but it was all gone. There was nothing in there so they had to completely rebuild and reconstruct everything," she said.
Surgeons reconstructed the bridge of her nose, performed the breast augmentation, repaired droopiness to her eye and gave her a philtrum, "the two little lines that connect your lip to your nose," she said. "If you take a before and an after, you can really see what they did on my nose."
Motykie told Michelle in the next surgery he will give her "facial harmony."
"He's going to put the nostrils on, going to do a little bit more projection of my nose, completely fix the lips and fix the scarring on my chin," she said.
Since sharing her story, Bowers said she has heard a lot of criticism from people thinking she hates ferrets.
"A lot of people are unhappy. I don't hate ferrets. I'm not like a ferret hater," she said. "Although I would have the right, you know."