Mohs Surgery

So it's been a little while since I have had the surgery... I might as well narrate the story... (oh and there is a picture at the end from that night prior to cleaning)

Last week was sort of traumatizing for me. Not too bad, but going under the knife is never a fun activity… So here’s the story. Starting when I was very young, I have burned FAR TOO MANY times due to my WHITE skin… That’s obvious. So at my young age, I developed skin cancer. (No kidding, every single doctor or nurse who saw me for the growth said “you’re a little young to be dealing with this already…”) After a doctor’s visit to a dermatologist, and a biopsy, it was proven that I had Basal cancer (I don't know the full name of it…) which is luckily the least aggressive cancer and not scary to have. Don’t get me wrong, it can do some serious damage if it’s not taken care of, but if it is it’s not too bad. Granted I waited a little too long to get it fixed.

SO, on Monday I went into the surgeon and had it removed. I was supposed to be there at 7:30 for my procedure but I got SO lost and didn't get into the actual surgical room until 7:45. They had two nurses working on me trying to get all my vitals and such as fast as they could to make up the time.

After they were all done Dr. Hadley came in (young and handsome might I add) and explained the whole procedure to me. Then we got started. They laid me back and put a towel over my eyes (I DON’T do needles) and stuck me to numb up the spot. It took too many pricks for my taste! Anyway, after I was all numb they took a chunk of skin and tested it to see where the cancer was and it's roots. They saw where the roots of it were and only had to take one more chunk before they got it all!

After they were done cutting me they stitched me up. I didn't know that you could have layers of sutchers on your forehead, but apparently you can. I do. He said the whole was about the size of a marble, but by the looks of the scar I am going to have, I am wondering how big of a marble he was talking about… Since the hole was in the shape of an oval they had to make an extra incision to stitch with out puckering the skin. My stitches look like Harry Potter’s scar and it’s over an inch long too! Oh well. They did have to cut my hair a little at that area to be able to work. I wonder how long it will take to grow back. I might need a little help to make it look normal till then. I will have to see once I stop wearing gauze on my head.

Oh and I wish I got a picture when they were stitching me up. They had to have a sterile site, so my face down to my neck, was covered in Iodine, I had a blue towel wrapped around my hair like a turban, and I had patches of gauze taped over my eyes! I guess I looked like an Arabic zombie! Hahahaha… I spent the rest of the day at my in-laws house while Preston was in class. I went to work the next day. Now I just have to clean it twice a day and keep it really gooey and covered in Vaseline. I think it is mostly healed though, so the cleaning and Vaseline seem a little pointless too me, but I am just following Dr. orders. (Granted I am sure the 80 year old man who had surgery the same time I did will have to do it longer than 2 weeks. I guess they write those cleaning instructions for the majority not the exception...)