Mohs Surgery
Today I had Mohs surgery. This is a special type of surgery that is done on people who have basal cell skin cancer in visible areas. I have had a spot on my nose for a while that just wasn't healing. I had a biopsy on it a few months ago and it came back as "inconclusive." It was a basal cell, as it turns out. So it all got removed today.
Mohs surgery is very intense. They do it under local anesthesia. Initially, they do 4 injections, which he did right into my nose. That was some of the most intense pain I have ever experienced, I have to say. It was all I could do to not start crying. The doctor said that noses are all veins and nerves and hair follicles and oil glands. That means doing this type of surgery on the nose is very difficult. The injections are painful because of all the nerves, it bleeds a lot because of all the blood vessels, and the cancer itself grows down into the tissue, rather than as a raised bump. Because there are so many things in the way like the oil glands and hair follicles, it weaves its way through all that stuff, and often you have to take out quite a lot of tissue to get everything.
That was the perfect storm that I faced today, and it was not pretty. I was in the doctor's office a total of about 5 hours. They numb, take some off, then treat it and look at it under a microscope. If they determine they didn't get it all, they repeat that process as many times as it takes to get all the cancer out. For me it was 4 times altogether. When he came in before the last time and said he hadn't gotten it all, I almost started crying. I figured he would take half my nose off before it was over. The good thing about Mohs is that the layers they take off each time are small, and they do that to minimize the tissue that gets removed. However, SP was with me in the doctor's office, and he saw it after the last section was removed, and he told me I probably won't want to see it because it's a sizeable hole.
The doctor said he didn't feel comfortable doing the plastic surgery to repair the damage himself, and referred me to a special plastic surgeon that specializes in head/neck stuff. I see him tomorrow. I am on spring break from law school this week, so I really want to get everything done ASAP. But that is hard to do when it comes to medical procedures. I hope that this guy will be able to fix it.
Now that the anesthetic has worn off, the pain is quite intense. The doctor gave me some vicodin and I took one. I have never taken vicodin before so I don't really know what to expect. All I know is I took it 20 minutes ago and it still hurts quite intensely.
I have learned a few lessons here:
(1) I put off having this taken care of for WAYYYYY too long. An inconclusive biopsy doesn't mean you should be complacent. Get it taken care of.
(2) Always wear sunscreen. In fact, if you're fair, blonde, and blue-eyed like I am, just avoid the sun altogether. I think about all the sunburns I had as a kid growing up in San Diego. It's just not worth it.
(3) I'm tougher than I thought I was in terms of dealing with pain. Those injections hurt like a mother. And it hurts quite a bit now. But I can handle it and be tough.
More later as the next phases of treating this thing happen. Thank God I have spring break this week and don't have to leave the house if I don't want to.
Mohs surgery is very intense. They do it under local anesthesia. Initially, they do 4 injections, which he did right into my nose. That was some of the most intense pain I have ever experienced, I have to say. It was all I could do to not start crying. The doctor said that noses are all veins and nerves and hair follicles and oil glands. That means doing this type of surgery on the nose is very difficult. The injections are painful because of all the nerves, it bleeds a lot because of all the blood vessels, and the cancer itself grows down into the tissue, rather than as a raised bump. Because there are so many things in the way like the oil glands and hair follicles, it weaves its way through all that stuff, and often you have to take out quite a lot of tissue to get everything.
That was the perfect storm that I faced today, and it was not pretty. I was in the doctor's office a total of about 5 hours. They numb, take some off, then treat it and look at it under a microscope. If they determine they didn't get it all, they repeat that process as many times as it takes to get all the cancer out. For me it was 4 times altogether. When he came in before the last time and said he hadn't gotten it all, I almost started crying. I figured he would take half my nose off before it was over. The good thing about Mohs is that the layers they take off each time are small, and they do that to minimize the tissue that gets removed. However, SP was with me in the doctor's office, and he saw it after the last section was removed, and he told me I probably won't want to see it because it's a sizeable hole.
The doctor said he didn't feel comfortable doing the plastic surgery to repair the damage himself, and referred me to a special plastic surgeon that specializes in head/neck stuff. I see him tomorrow. I am on spring break from law school this week, so I really want to get everything done ASAP. But that is hard to do when it comes to medical procedures. I hope that this guy will be able to fix it.
Now that the anesthetic has worn off, the pain is quite intense. The doctor gave me some vicodin and I took one. I have never taken vicodin before so I don't really know what to expect. All I know is I took it 20 minutes ago and it still hurts quite intensely.
I have learned a few lessons here:
(1) I put off having this taken care of for WAYYYYY too long. An inconclusive biopsy doesn't mean you should be complacent. Get it taken care of.
(2) Always wear sunscreen. In fact, if you're fair, blonde, and blue-eyed like I am, just avoid the sun altogether. I think about all the sunburns I had as a kid growing up in San Diego. It's just not worth it.
(3) I'm tougher than I thought I was in terms of dealing with pain. Those injections hurt like a mother. And it hurts quite a bit now. But I can handle it and be tough.
More later as the next phases of treating this thing happen. Thank God I have spring break this week and don't have to leave the house if I don't want to.
posted by Jennifer at 20:32
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