So, who knows about Mohs????

sophiamarie · ‎08-08-2013

Has anyone had any experience with a Mohs surgeon??? I have to make an appt. with one and would appreciate hearing personal experiences of those who have had this type of surgery. TIA Smile

Jannabelle · ‎03-09-2010

What is that?

RainyDayGal · ‎03-09-2010

I know someone that had it. She was very happy with the result.

4Kicks · ‎03-17-2010

I assume this is a dermatologist or plastic surgeon who has training in this method of surgery to remove skin cancer. Does that help you out, Janna? It is a method of surgery which removes the skin cancer little by little and tests each section to see if all the cancerous portions have been removed and stops at that point. Supposed to be very exacting. Especially used for the face.

In Sunny AZ

Jannabelle · ‎03-09-2010

On 2/24/2014 4KICKS said:
I assume this is a dermatologist or plastic surgeon who has training in this method of surgery to remove skin cancer. Does that help you out, Janna? It is a method of surgery which removes the skin cancer little by little and tests each section to see if all the cancerous portions have been removed and stops at that point. Supposed to be very exacting. Especially used for the face.

Thank you! Smile

stilltamn8r · ‎03-14-2010

it is gentle and they go layer by layer till they get it all..

esmeraldagooch · ‎03-10-2010

The Moh's procedure is the best way to save your skin especially if they are dealing with cancer on the face. It slice the skin layers like a ham and they check each layer until they get clear cancer free skin. I had a friend who let her skin cancer go thinking it was a pimple on her nose. The doctor using the Mohs procedure removed all the cancer which was extensive. They got it all but unfortunately her nose had to be removed. I am not telling you this to scare you, but I am in the market for a new dermatologist and I am getting the only doctor in town that uses this procedure. If I get skin cancer on my face I would rather have the least invasive procedure with the best outcome of cancer free used on me. As for my friend, a plastic surgeon rebuilt her face and she looks surprisingly normal.

myheart · ‎03-22-2010

Two weeks ago I had a Mohs procedure done on my face to remove a small basal cell carcinoma. The surgery only takes a few minutes under local anesthetic, then I waited while they tested the material that was excised. I was okay (clear margins) after only one pass and they closed the surgical site and sent me on my way. It's a procedure where they remove tissue in layers until they get clear margins. A friend of mine had to have several layers removed and tested until she was clear. My scar is about 1 1/2 inches (much longer than the growth that was removed), but the surgery to close is similar to plastic surgery and the scar should be barely detectable in a couple of months.

kdgn · ‎03-09-2010

It's not a big deal. My dermatologist uses this. It's not MOHS that's a surgery, by the way, it's a method. The doctor takes however much that he/she thinks is necessary, prepares a slide and it's read by a machine (?). If the slide is clear that's the end. If it's not clear, he/she goes back and takes more, prepares the slide and it's read. This process continues until the doctor sees from reading the slide that all is clear. Once it is, the site is closed, usually with stitches. All is done in one appointment even if it takes a couple of hours.

I had the procedure done on a site on my neck. The area was numbed, the doctor removed an area, a bandage was placed over the area and I was sent back out into the waiting room. I was told it would be 20-30 minutes. I was called back in, told he got it all; he stitched me up, a bandage was put on and I left. I was told beforehand that it could take anywhere from one to three tries, depending on deep the squamous cell cancer was.

This method is so much easier than before where the area removed would be sent out to a pathologist and if it wasn't all removed another appointment would have to be made and the whole procedure would be done again. It could take a few weeks to finally get a clear pathology report.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

I had this on my scalp. It took about an hour and a half only because they did a second scraping because they didn't think they got it all the first time. It didn't hurt at all cuz I was numb and I could drive myself home. Suggest you take a book or something to read cuz how long it takes depends on making sure that they get a clean slide before closing the area back up. I had a basal cell carcinoma on my scalp.