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Anyone had Mohs micrographic surgery for basal cell carcinoma?

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
My Dad had MOHS for a squamous cell carcanoma. It went well, though slowly, and healed well. (Pretty much what has already been said) Best Wishes. :balloons:
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
I had the surgery today and now have a huge (really huge!:eek:) pressure bandage on my face. It all went well and quickly. The doctor was very good. I liked his prescription for the rest of the day--don't do anything!

Question for @Butydoc or anyone else who knows: he had some way of seeing or sensing (a light or something?) which tissue was likely cancerous. This enabled him to get it all in one cut. I was in and out in just over an hour--including the lab time to analyze the tissue to make sure they had gotten it all.

Everyone was efficient and thoughtful and they even covered my eyes with a damp bandage to shield from the bright light.

Sushi
 

Butydoc

Senior Member
Messages
790
Hi Sushi,

I'm happy to hear your surgery went well. I'm not familiar with using a light to identify margins but i suppose it is possible. Generally under magnification, the margins can be determined. Usually a normal margin of 2-5 mm is removed to increase the likelihood of cancer cure.

Best,
Gary
I had the surgery today and now have a huge (really huge!:eek:) pressure bandage on my face. It all went well and quickly. The doctor was very good. I liked his prescription for the rest of the day--don't do anything!

Question for @Butydoc or anyone else who knows: he had some way of seeing or sensing (a light or something?) which tissue was likely cancerous. This enabled him to get it all in one cut. I was in and out in just over an hour--including the lab time to analyze the tissue to make sure they had gotten it all.

Everyone was efficient and thoughtful and they even covered my eyes with a damp bandage to shield from the bright light.

Sushi
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
One more comment: After the numbing wore off it hurt like hell! A difficult night afterwards with pain and trying to breath with one closed nostril and the other pinched! Bandage comes off today. :) That is my little moan for the day.

Sushi
 

tudiemoore

Senior Member
Messages
161
Location
Southeast U.S.
Had a squamous cell tumor removed by Mohs surgery some years ago. All turned out fine but lots more complex than had been expected. It was in the crease by my nostril.
A concern I had was that the growth looked different from the many other basals I had had.

Surgery went a total of eight hours which, of course, included the "down time" while progress was checked. I had planned to have lunch with a friend who worked nearby!

I never looked at the incision but was informed that the tumor was much deeper than expected, to the cartilege--specific term for all this escapes me--:rolleyes:--brain fog, you probably know it well, huh?
Sent directly to plastic surgery and scheduled for a skin graft. Learned there the tumor was about the size of a quarter.

The plastic surgeon removed skin from behind my ear; the surgery didn't take long but I had anestheia---more fog here--pain meds for a few days, dressing changes, etc.
Somewhat complicated but had a great result --the outcome was almost undectable after healing and became more so as time went by.
I was extremely fortunate to be in a location of a major medical center.

SDSue, plenty of moaning, but all the bowls of chocolate ice cream (and other flavors) I had stashed in my freezer helped too!
I use extra sunscreen on the left side, face, neck, arm now--driving really does it.
Sunscreen, everybody, sunscreen!
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
My dad had Mohs surgery approx 10 days ago to remove a basal cell carcinoma on his nose. It was a two day surgery (with second day as the reconstruction part) and it went well and the doctor removed all the cancer.

He was black & blue w/facial bruises and eye swollen shut but got his stitches removed last week and now looks a lot better and is doing great! He was initially in pain and putting ice on his face every hour but no longer needs the ice.

I would recommend the Mohs procedure to anyone in his situation and unlike me, he can tolerate local anesthesia with Epi.