Recent biopsy and diagnosis

Hi I hear your worries. I had Mohs 14 years ago and I am currently in the middle of slow MOHs (done over weeks not hours). I know the words skin cancer can be really scary. I felt floored after my first diagnosis and I think it’s easy to dismiss as it’s treatable. It somehow feels like it’s your fault too even though I’ve been so careful all my life. I think you need to be patient with yourself and acknowledge that it’s a scary thought. On the plus side MOHs surgeons are highly specialised and there aren’t many around so I trust their skills! My first scar is hardly noticeable. I used bio oil every day so help the healing. I’d also say give yourself time to recover properly afterwards as it’s easy to think you can rush back to normal (kids, work etc) when we actually need rest for our body to heal. When you go for MOHs take a book, headphones, snacks as you’ll have hanging around for hours. It’s normal to feel weird with dressings on your face too, so take your time going out and being around people. You’ve made the right steps getting the treatment and you will be ok, it just takes time. 

Thank you so much for your reply Bluebits2. It made me feel very understood which means a lot. I am grateful that this is a cancer that can be treated but it's still difficult hear that something I thought was nothing is actually malignant. I've been blaming myself a bit too as I lived in Brazil for a few years in the past and probably could have taken more care of my skin. But I can't change that now. It's encouraging to hear your positive comments about MOHs surgery too as I've never met anyone who had it and actually hadn't heard of it before all this. I'm sorry to hear you are dealing with this for the second time and wish you all the best with your current treatment, I hope it will be completed soon! 

Thanks - make sure you look after yourself and talk to others. I’ve been surprised how many people wished me well even though I’ve been trying to ‘soldier on’ and tell myself I’m fine! Take it slowly and be patient with the time it takes to heal. Take time for yourself and to manage what it looks like afterwards and always reach out when you need to. 

Hello Ruth.  I know you must feel very worried at the moment.  I had MOHS on Infiltrative BCC on nose tip just over 3 weeks ago.  I too looked it up and know it looks scary.  Actually the procedure itself was ok. The only discomfort is the local anaesthetic injections they put in your nose. Quite painful but short lived.  The rest is painless, you just feel tugging sensations.  They then did the dressing and I went home . With me the Bcc was quite deep in my nose, so I required a forehead flap reconstruction. So 2 days later I had the forehead flap operation by plastic surgeon. I’ve lived with this stage for a month ,   a bit miserable , dressing changes , looking very odd, headaches, some pain, but all manageable.  I’m having the next operation on Friday to reconstruct nose , using the skin flap. I have an open wound on foreshead, am not sure if I’m having a skin graft on that bit . The surgeon will tell me on Friday. I’ve focused on each stage and just got through that bit, then moved on to next. I’m not thinking past the operation yet. Trying not to future worry.  I have been waiting some time to get to this stage, and it was the worry of not knowing when it would be done that was the worse, it was really affecting me mentally.  Am glad yours is only a few weeks away.  Yours may be more straightforward than mine. But whichever it’s something you will be able to deal with one day at a time.  I hope this is helpful. Wishing you well

Hello Kromali, thank you for your reply,  it is definitely helpful. It sounds like you have been through a lot in the past few weeks, I hope it will soon be over and done with for you! A month is a long time when you have so much to deal with. Best wishes to you for the surgery on Friday! 

I have been quite worried that they may want to do a forehead flap when they do the surgery on the lesion on my nose as I read somewhere that you can't wear glasses if you have that done until it has healed. I am very short sighted and basically blind without my glasses. I can't wear contact lenses as I also suffer from dry eyes. I couldn't manage a day without my glasses, never mind weeks, so I hope they won't suggest this for me! I am still waiting on the biopsy results for that one and hoping it turns out to be nothing, although they did tell me to expect to need the mohs surgery. I have the one on my cheek which will be dealt with first, just an excision and reconstruction with a flap or skin graft. They seemed to think that one would be in the next few weeks but I don't know how long it will take for the mohs surgery. I had no idea when I first went to my GP that I would be dealing with all this! Although that's probably just as well.. I know it will eventually just be something else I've lived through and dealt with but I am still struggling to come to terms with it all at the moment. As you said, it is better not to worry about the future. I'm trying to focus on my work and everyday life to keep my mind off it as much as possible. 

I can’t wear my glasses either, I’m short sighted too, but not as bad as you. My husband used an old pair of my specs and took the arms of then put an upright wooden stick on one side of the specs, so I can hold them up to watch TV. My vision is fuzzy in distance so have been getting quite a few headaches, but I’m not as blind as you, so it will be difficult for you. 
From my understanding MOHs is the gold standard for your nose.  There’s not much tissue there, so they want to save as much tissue as possible for the best outcome. So instead of a taking big safety margin of tissue which they can do in other places, once they have taken away the cancer, they then take minute layers to check for any stray cancer cells, they may have to take another minute layer and so on. But at least they know for certain they have it all before you go home.  So they won’t know how deep or shallow the wound is until they do it.  In my opinion if they say MOHS is required, I would go for it, as it is going to give you the best outcome with more tissue to work with.  I won’t lie to you this month has been very miserable and some days it gets to you,  But I think although it’s a long drawn out process, it’s giving me the best chance, to look a bit better.  I hope you get a good result with the biopsy, then you won’t need MOHs.  Get your cheek done first, In my area MOHS surgeons are very few, so the waiting lists are long. So find out first, then move forward.

Only 2 days to wait for me now for the next stage.  Fingers crossed it goes well.  Take good care of yourself, and hopefully we will speak again soon.

Hello Kromali,

Do you mind if I ask where your lesion was located on your nose? Mine is on the right side at the bottom. I am really hoping the biopsy shows it's nothing! If it is malignant I will have to talk to them about this as I would be severely disabled without my glasses. I can't even see my own face in the mirror without them and my optician has told me I am among the few most short sighted people in their practice! Hopefully they can find an option that will allow me to wear my glasses and still have a good result. 

I'm so sorry you've had such a difficult month. Not long now and you can move on to the next part of your recovery. It will be so good when we can put all of this behind us! 

Hello Ruth, my lesion was the nose tip. I am sure there will be other options for you if the biopsy comes back malignant.  I can see why the forehead flap would be impossible for you. They will find another way for you I’m sure.  I hope you find out soon, so you can discuss it all with consultant.  

 I have had the op now, and can wear my specs again, thank goodness.  They have repaired my nose now, Have to have stitches out next week. The forehead wound is being left to heal on its own, which may take a while. I have a line of stitches from forehead to my eye and stitches around replacement nose tip.  Am sore and getting some bad headaches, but all doable. Am hoping the worse is over, and that eventually the scarring will lessen. At the moment just glad I’ve got this far.  Hope your wait is not too long. The waiting is the worse. Everything else you will cope with.  Please keep updating how you are progressing, and if I can help with anything I am here.   Best Wishes

Hello Kromali, I'm so glad to hear from you. I was thinking about you on Friday and have been wondering how you are getting on. It's a very hard time for you but hopefully you will just keep getting better now and it will all be worth it in the end. The one good thing I saw when I looked at these surgeries online is that although the wounds look bad to start with they heal up well and don't leave very visible scars. I suppose we will always see the difference in our own faces but if other people don't notice that will be good. Take good care of yourself. ️

I don't know when I'll get the biopsy results for the lesion on my nose but I am hoping that one will turn out not to be malignant. Although both the dermatologist and the plastic surgeon told me it will need MOHs surgery. I'll just have to wait and see. That one isn't obvious, the one on my cheek is more noticeable and a bit sore so I'll be glad to get rid of it.

I think I'm feeling a bit better about it all this week. I wasn't so upset to hear it was skin cancer as I already knew BCC is low grade, but I was completely unprepared for how involved the surgeries are or how disfiguring it can be initially. That was overwhelming and left me reeling for a few days. It's not happening yet though so I'm just getting on with normal life and that's helping. Xx

Am glad you are feeling calmer about things.  You are doing well and getting on with life as best you can.  You will have good days when you hardly think about it. Then there will be days when it kes popping into your mind. That’s what happened to me, but you will be ok, am sure of it.  Let me know how you are getting along.  Best wishes for now