'Twas 17 days After

 

This is what my face looks like 17 days after the Mohs surgery. The picture helped me to see the little white stitch the doctor's office said I could remove myself if it "popped up." I'm not stressing to re-photograph without it - you'll just have to have faith in my medical skill.

'Twas the Day After

'Twas the day after my skin cancer surgery, and this is how my wound looked. Luckily, only one layer had to be removed to be cancer free upon microscopic inspection. Still, I was there 4 hours - most of that waiting for the tissue sample to freeze. Recheck every three months, but cure rate is 97%. However, now that I've had one basal cell carcinoma, my risk of getting another somewhere else is 40% greater.

"I'm going to put the incision in one of your existing lines (wrinkles), so it won't be too noticeable." Well, that's kind. As long as my smile can still circumnavigate my head while i'm skiing, who cares?

'Twas the Night Before

'Twas the night before my skin cancer surgery, and this is what my basal cell carcincoma looked like (small red patch.)
"Look, this is where there will be a scar," said the dermatologist as she thrust a mirror into my hand. Hopefully there won't be a giant spiderweb of skin cancer under this spot and it won't be too bad. And if there is, I guess you can look for me to star in the next Batman movie.

I'm having the Mohs procedure at 11am tomorrow. Just wanted to document what my face looked like before and after and how long it takes to heal and all that.

Lip Curl Moments of the Week

1. I got the dirty dog blues x 2 - after visiting the swimming hole for hip rehab, my golden did his best imitation of a pig and rolled in the dirt until he was unrecognizably coated in black grit. This was not surprising, but a real pain when I was down on my charms to cajole him back to the water for a rinse off. Of course this happened while the housekeeper was cleaning - so no taking him into the house. Good neighbors Gerard and Linda came to the emotional rescue when I was at wits end and rinsed him off. Lip uncurled for now....
2. Dermatologist called. "You know that mole we took off your face 3 weeks ago? Yeah, its basal cell carcinoma. Please come back next month so we can dig around near your eye and get the rest out." Lip curl plus growl like a dog, swear and cry, geez this makes me mad.
3. ADA nightmare - 102 deg F, hot town, back of my neck all dirty and gritty, can't get into the salon for my 1pm highlights and haircut, because the office that provides wheelchair access is closed until 1:45pm! One beer and one crappy pizza later, I return, that much hotter, that much more tired, and get my hair done. A pretty new hair-do sure can uncurl your lip until you can call the ADA compliance dude.