My Moh's Experience

I've always been a sun lover, I loved not only the healthy glow it gave but just something about soaking in the warmth just always brought me peace and made me happy.  I am 42 years old and when I was younger of course sunscreen wasn't something we worried about as our parents sent us outside to play for hours on end and as a teenager I was one of those silly girls glistening in baby oil mixed with iodine laying on a silver tanning pad! I was never much for the tanning bed, I did visit on a few occasions to get that "base" tan before vacation, but not a frequent tanning bed tanner.  I am of Italian/Irish decent, I have dark hair, brown eyes and medium skin tone and really didn't think I was the "skin cancer" type.

About 3 years ago, I had my first inkling that I may have a suspisious spot above my eyebrow and because my mom and her side of the family (the Irish side) had issues with skin cancer I made my first appointment with the dermatoligist to have it checked out.  After a biopsy, it came back as basal cell carcinoma and I was scheduled shortly after for Moh's surgery.  I did not research at the time and just assumed it would be a quick cut and a stitch or two, boy was I wrong! It took three layers to remove all the cancer and about 12 stitches.  My surgeon did a fantastic job with closing my wound and my scar is not even visable today.  Fast forward three years later and another suspisous spot that I had been in denial about triggers me to make another dreaded appointment for a biopsy.  This one particularyly had me freaked out because it was above my upper lip and I now was armed with a little knowledge about Moh's surgery and I knew it wasn't going to be just a little cut, and I feared my entire lip would be removed.  The internet is a great thing, but it really can be harmful when you are looking at Moh's proceedure pictures and information!  About a week after my biopysy, the news I had been expecting came in...more basal cell...more Moh's surgery.  I was given the option because of the location above my lip to have the wound repair done by a plastic surgeon and I did choose to go that route in hopes of getting the best scar results. 

I had to wait 4 weeks to get worked into the schedule of my dermatologist and plastic surgeon and I was filled with such anxiety and spent countless hours searching the web for answers, guidance, encouragement and those dreaded pictures. The day before my proceedure I called my Dr. and requested that I have valium before the procedure, the thought of the numbing shots in my lip was really freaking me out. 

I arrived at 7:30 am and was given my valium after signing the consent form and began to relax as much as I could.  My sweet husband was with me and was my Mr. Positive Cheerleader :).  Finally, it was time to get the show on the road and I geared up for the numbing injection, yes, it hurt (ALOT) but I managed and after the initial sting the rest to follow did not hurt at all.  After the first layer, I was sent to the waiting room and shortly after called back for another go at it.  This went on for four layers and FINALLY a clear margin. 
Needless to say I literally did a dance in the office and high fived anyone that was around me.  I then was driven by my husband a few miles to the plastic surgeons office for the next step of this long day.  I was checked into the surgical center and given a lovely gown and booties as they took all my vitals and prepped my IV for sedation.  I'm not sure how large my wound was they rattled off some dimensions but I really was too squeamish to look, but the surgeon opted to put me totally under rather than twilight sedation, so I assume it was pretty bad.  Two hours later I was groggy and coming back into the world all stitched up.  I ended up with an incision from the inside of my nostril down through the entire length of my top lip.  16 surface stitches and 20 under the skin.  The swelling was pretty major, lips are known to swell so I expected that.  I really wasn't in any pain, my lip was fat and very numb, but I took a pain pill just to be on the safe side for the night. 

It has now been 4 days since my surgery and I am finally starting to feel like my self again.  My lip is still swollen and the skin feels tight but each day is bringing improvement.  I will go back to the surgeon on Friday to have my stitches removed and will post a picture.

48 hours after surgery

I mainly decided to write about my experience because it was so helpful to me while I was waiting for my surgery to find anyone who had information and connect with anyone who had experienced the same thing.  It is scary, but I am thankful it wasn't melanoma and that Moh's does have an excellent cure rate.  I am hoping to be more proactive when I notice something that isn't quite right and get it taken care of immediately.  I think I would have been much better off going in sooner than being such a chicken and putting it off.  Even though I will never leave the house without sunscreen on my face again, I do not plan on staying indoors the rest of my life either! Good Luck to those waiting for this procedure, hang in there...YOU WILL SURVIVE!