Mohs or Aldara

Hi bbecca14 and a warm welcome to the online community

I haven't had either procedure so can't help with experiences I'm afraid but I wanted to take the opportunity to welcome you to the group.

There are quite a lot of people who have both types of treatment in this group and, while you're waiting for replies, you could use the search bar in this group to look for previous posts. Simply typing in 'Aldara' or 'Mohs' should bring up plenty of posts for you to look through and you could always respond to any that you think might be able to help you further.

Let us know what you decide to do

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I have recently finished using Aldara. I haven’t had surgery so can’t comment on that. Aldara made me feel really dreadful for 3-4 weeks. So poorly I barely went out or did anything. However I am aware that not everyone feels like that. Also one of the two lesions reacted so severely I was advised to stop using Aldara on it after 5 weeks. I have had to have two bouts of antibiotics because of the infection and inflammation. It has also been extended painful. Still not out of the woods with it. However I must say the other lesion I had gave me no issues or problems. So again not everyone experiences what I did. 

After my experiences would I use Aldara again? I don’t think so. I have had a really miserable 6 weeks. In hindsight surgery would have been all over by now. However this is just my personal experience. I am sure other people will tell you using the cream was fine. You just don’t know how the cream will effect you, you may well be absolutely fine. 

Thanks for the reply.  Your reaction matches a lot of reviews I have read about this drug online.  It seems a large percentage of people who use this drug have bad reactions.  

I'm leaning on going with the Mohs.  I figure if I used the Aldara for 6 weeks I will look and probably feel horrible and if it doesn't work would have to do the Mohs anyway.

I'm a bit concerned about the Mohs being this is on my nose and the probability of having some kind of reconstructive surgery is likely.  I am planning to do this in January so will be a good time just to hunker down at home until I am presentable to go out in public.

Whatever you choose to do I hope it all goes well with you.

Hi bbecca14 and happy New Year!

I wondered which treatment option you decided on in the end. It would be really useful to know what you decided and why for people who come here in future.

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I guess the answer would be both.  I had a consult with the Mohs surgeon in October and scheduled the surgery for January 14.  In the interim, both the surgeon and my dermatologist said I could try the Aldara.  I began that on November 11 and did the 6 week treatment.  I saw my derm during week 3 and she thought I wasn't having enough of a reaction and increased my dosage from 5x a week to 7x a week.  That seemed to get things going and I had a pretty good reaction, although not severe.

I am going to see my derm on Jan. 8 and she is going to biopsy the site and determine if I should still go for the Mohs.  I have the feeling I will still have the Mohs.

The Aldara was tolerable but not fun.  The site first got red, then very crusty and scabby.  The scabs would fall off and then form again.  It's taken almost 2 weeks for them to heal after finishing my treatment.  I felt pretty good physically until about the 4th week when I developed a raging Urinary Tract Infection.  I don't know if that was related to the Aldara.  Once I got on antibiotics for that I started feeling better.

I'm not sure I would do Aldara again.  I walked around for 6+ weeks with an ugly looking nose.  Now I am facing the Mohs and will have to walk around with the aftermath of that for many more weeks.  Seems like a really long process.

I am at the point that I just want to get it all over with.  I am terrified I will have to have a forehead flap but if I do it's the middle of winter and I will just hibernate for a few months.

I will keep you posted.

This website is helpful.

That's interesting that your consultant decided to try you on Aldara while you were waiting for the Mohs Surgery bbecca14. I assume that the thinking was that if the Aldara cleared the BCC then you wouldn't need to have surgery.

I'll keep my fingers crossed on the 8th that the consultant doesn't feel that you need to have Mohs surgery.

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When I had a large bcc removed from a toe and the pathology showed an involved margin I had the option of further surgery or Aldara. Chose surgery. Main reason was that I would have proof that all the cancer had been removed. Not on my face though so different situation to you.

The good news is my dermatologist biopsied the site of the superficial bcc and it came back negative for basal cell!!!  It appears the Aldara did its job.  The bad news is she still wants me to go to my Mohs appt. on Tuesday and have the surgeon check areas around the site to make sure there aren't any "rogue" cells left.  I guess I'm okay with doing that, hopefully this will be just minimal scraping and it will give me peace of mind that it's all gone.  I will update after the Mohs appt.

That's great news that Aldara seems to have done it's job bbecca14. 

Let's hope that the Mohs surgeon doesn't find any rogue cells.

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