Community Chat

[moonstone dunes]

I live in fear of MOHs surgery. I have had many pre-cancerous spots on my face and they continue to pop up. Actinic Keratosis. One derm had me use Carac cream; my current derm uses liquid nitrogen.

Please do not ignore dry spots on your face, nose, even check your ears. We were sold down the river in the '60s and '70s with those Ali McGraw Johnson's Bay Oil ads for a dark tan.

My mother had a Dx of Squamous Cell carcinoma on her cheek. Dermatologist wanted her to have MOHs to treat. She is in her eighties and decided she didn't like the dermatologist and his office because they also offer cosmetic treatments like Botox ! Older folks have odd notions about these things. She went to another derm who use the Nitrogen treatment. I explained to her about SCC traveling to other cells in the body. I do not know if all the cancer cells were removed. I cannot convince her to have the area checked again.

[ennui1]

On 2/24/2014 sophiamarie said:

Oh, this is making me very nervous. I just went to "youtube" and watched a couple of videos and they weren't pretty. I have a BCC on the tip of my "very expensive" nose of all things. I was given the option of MOHS or radiation, by my Dermatologist.

Now, after seeing these videos, I am tempted to go along with the radiation.

NNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Do the Mohs!

I've had Mohs for a couple of different things. I wouldn't have radiation unless my life depended on it (and maybe not even then).

[shoekitty]

On 2/24/2014 sophiamarie said:

Oh, this is making me very nervous. I just went to "youtube" and watched a couple of videos and they weren't pretty. I have a BCC on the tip of my "very expensive" nose of all things. I was given the option of MOHS or radiation, by my Dermatologist.

Now, after seeing these videos, I am tempted to go along with the radiation. He explained that the MOHS could take one session, while the radiation could be maybe 10 visits or more and the treatment is about 10 seconds but with the prep. probably more than an hour.

He told me to call the MOHS doctor and just go there for a consultation and then check into the radiation (done at the hospital) and then make up my mind.

What to do - what to do.????????? Who knew that baking in the sun for more than 30 years could lead to this????

I have had MOHS surgery and radiation. Personally, I would not concider radiation unless it was the last alternative. A MOHS specialist is a Doctor that is board certified in MOHS surgery. It is a lot of training, and MOHS specialists are hard to find!! When I had mine done, there were very few in the part of California I live in. I had a BCC on the side of my nose (where the nose pads of a pair of glasses might sit). I had gone to Dr. for a bigger spot I thought was suspicious. He said the spot I went in for was simple keretosis, but I had an interesting spot near there. He biopsied, and the results were a high grade BCC. I tell you I don't know how he saw it, as when I went home I looked. I got a magnifying glass and scoured the area! It was the size of a common pin head, and clea!, like a blister? My Derm wears those huge Mr Magoo glasses all time when examining skin. Good thing.

For the procedure they take you to a room and numb the area. You wait a bit for numbing to set in. Then they take a slice, or a scraping from the area. The Doctor wears these microscope type glasses. Kind of like Mr Magoo again or Waldo, lol! They bandage it up a bit, and send you to a special waiting area. . They take the sample back to the computer lab they have in the back. I waited about 25 to 30 minutes maybe for them to call me in again. They make sure the area they have removed has clean margins. By clean margins they make sure so many cms or millimeters are clean around the area. That way they know, they have removed the cancer, and good skin, so it will not grow back. I had to go back 2 times. My surgeon was a master at stitches. 22 stitches in this tiny area half the size of my baby nail! I went back to have stitches removed, and then for another check up. No one can see the scar! MOHS is fairly new. Before Dr's would just cut a chunk out around area. Then sew it up, and hope they got it all. Many times the results came back 2 weeks later with dirty margins. You would have to go back AGAIN, while they reopen the area and cut, stitch again.

Honestly, it was not painful. I was there 2 hours total maybe. That was 11 years ago, and I am fine!

I have had radiation before for Breast cancer. A dear friend had radiation on the side of her face. Believe me the side effects are many, and the change in skin is evident. Too close to the eyes for me! Radiation changes the skin, the color the texture. If it was your only choice, I would say go for it. MOHS is not a walk in the park, but it is not that bad.

Make sure you trust your surgeon. Ask how he is with stitches. LOL! If he is a derm, I am sure he has done oodles of small stitches around the eyes, with eye lifts and such.

I don't believe a Derm Dr. does radiation, you would have to go to a radiation specialist.

Don't let YOUtube scare you totally, because I am sure they showed close ups, and maybe it was a bigger procedure than yours.

Many posters on these forums have had MOHS.

I hope you feel better, and get this over quick. Let me know how you do. Bless you!

Shoe

[sophiamarie]

Again- thanks for all the replies. It looks like everyone who had MOHS had a good result and the side effects of the radiation aren't worth it.

I will probably have a dent or at least a scar, right?? I mean, if they're going to be scraping and maybe scraping many times, how could I be scarless???

Please keep the replies coming and I'll respond to you all tomorrow. I am thankful to hear all your stories and happy for all the good results.

Off to bed now. Thanks again. I really appreciate you all taking the time to respond to my post.

[sylviahomeatlast]

now that I read the posts---my daughter r had this---she had a cancer on the side of her face--it's cured but she still sees the dermatologist regularly---I didn't know what it is called

[sylviahomeatlast]

she has no scar

[shoekitty]

On 2/24/2014 sophiamarie said:

Again- thanks for all the replies. It looks like everyone who had MOHS had a good result and the side effects of the radiation aren't worth it.

I will probably have a dent or at least a scar, right?? I mean, if they're going to be scraping and maybe scraping many times, how could I be scarless???

Please keep the replies coming and I'll respond to you all tomorrow. I am thankful to hear all your stories and happy for all the good results.

Off to bed now. Thanks again. I really appreciate you all taking the time to respond to my post.

Remember, I had 22 stitches. I cannot see the area I had my MOHS surgery without my 10X mirror, and the scar is faint. At first there can be a slight dip (dent) but it DOES fill in over time (several months). I have noticed as I have gotton older, the scar is slightly lighter in the summer when my freckles darken.

It does all depend on how big the BCC is. It is on the tip if your nose, so any mark will be noticible. If it bothers you use some Demablend or a concealer like it. Also, you can use Mederma or a product like it, after the stitches are out to reduce scars. I have done that with other scars and Mederma works!

[ennui1]

On 2/24/2014 sophiamarie said:

I will probably have a dent or at least a scar, right?? I mean, if they're going to be scraping and maybe scraping many times, how could I be scarless???

I suppose the alternative is to do nothing, and just let the skin cancer grow.

Scars are better.

[MaggieToo]

I had this surgery last year and because I take blood thinners, they should have left the stitches in longer. When they were removed, the incision came apart and didn't heal properly. I now have a scar and a ridge down my cheek. The ridge is parallel to the one by my nose to the mouth area. At my age, I don't care. If I were younger, I'd be getting it corrected. (My dermatologist is retiring next month).

[puglet1]

sophiamarie, I can understand that you're concerned about scarring right smack in the middle of your face. You said you viewed the worst case scenarios where people had half their faces missing. That would be enough to scare anyone away, but a tiny pimple on the tip of your nose is not going to result in that.

Scarring depends on how large the lesion is, how well your skin heals, and the expertise of the surgeon (which is why it's really important to find a Moh's-certified surgeon, unless your derm has performed hundreds of these procedures). Depending on these factors, the site may fill in so completely that you never knew it happened, or you may have a tiny dent like I do in my nose. I was a fairly vain person when my procedure was done in my 30's, and it didn't upset me at all. Really, only I noticed it. No one else ever did.

The problem with radiation that I didn't say earlier is that it not only can it result in undesirable immediate effects, but radiation is cumulative over one's lifetime and has the potential to cause cancer. Everyone needs to weigh radiation treatment and tests involving radiation in a risk vs. benefit sense, but if you can avoid radiation and can have an alternative treatment, IMO that's the way you should go.

One very important aside about radiation that I'd like to mention here that most people don't know is about CAT scans. A single CAT scan (or CT scan) gives a person the radiation equivalent of up to several hundred conventional x-rays. An alternative test would be an MRI, but doctors are reluctant to order these because they are more expensive than CT scans. Of course, there are some instances where a CT scan needs to be done, but a person should always make sure to ask their doctor if there is an alternative test, then research it for themselves, before consenting to a CT scan.