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| Typical Mohs surgery setup |
A date! Although the dermatology clinic (Frontier) only received my referral yesterday, already today I have received detailed instructions on how my own Mohs adventure will proceed. The date is in nine days, August 14, and now all of my anxiety, relief, worry, and concerns have been allayed. Along with the help of a nice person who gave me all the information and sent me a link to the entire procedure, I learned that It will take all day, since there will be many of us decked out in gowns on our own separate guerneys. The way Mohs surgery works is they shave off a bit of tissue and send it to the lab. While that is going on, the surgeon has moved to the next person and repeated it again. This goes on from three to eight hours, with each patient hoping for their cancer to be sliced, diced, finished and gone.
And I will hopefully be one of them, however long it takes. They do this Mohs surgery on both basal cell and squamous cell cancers. If you are unlucky enough to have melanoma, they do something called "slow Mohs" surgery. It takes longer to process the tissue, I guess.
I also learned that it is all done on an outpatient basis, using a local anesthetic to numb the area. I have a virtual friend who will be having Mohs surgery around her eye area. I wonder what causes the different places for a carcinoma to form. Is it genetics? I didn't think I would be featuring this myself, but why did I think that, since skin cancer is ubiquitous in the elderly. Nobody in my family, except my uncle Joe, ever died of it; we seem to be more likely to die of a heart attack or a brain aneurysm. As I age, I do wonder what body part will wear out first. My eyes and ears are not holding up well, but one can live without those two senses. Maybe not a great existence, but still.
It's kind of comforting to realize I will be part of a community as we await another slice to be shaved off our carcinomas and examined. I am looking forward to it!
:-)
Interesting. Assembly line surgery.
ReplyDeleteIt is reassuring that it will be soon, and seems fairly common.
Much can be done when it comes to skin surgery. Cool how they take off a layer of skin at a time.
ReplyDeleteA fascinating process for sure. I am so glad the procedure is so soon, Jan.
ReplyDeleteGood news that you have a date! Now relax! The sun is the culprit according to my dermatologist!
ReplyDeleteYes, after the first scrape you wait for it to be microscopically examined at the edges for any residual cancer cells. If there are they have to go in and scape some more and you wait for that to be examined. When you are cancer free only then they start the surgery to sew you up. That's why it takes so long and they are working on more than one person at a time. I learned all that recently, as you know. I didn't know they were going to do a skin graft on me using my own facial skin to cover what they took off over my lip. So they are also plastic surgeons, too. Mine is looking better and better. You'll be so glad when it is all over with and you are rid of the cancer!! :) I am sooo glad you don't have to wait and wait like I did. That is really soon. Hurray!!
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