Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 4 Location: Daytona Beach, FL
After Surgery Experience Posted: 05-04-06 10:08am
I have posted several times asking about
what to expect after mohs surgery and a
skin graft. There has been no reply so
let me share my experience..
There was a basal cell cancer on the right
side of my nose
the doctor performed mohs which means that
a local is given and the cancer is removed
a "little" at a time. The removed
particle is viewed by a pathologist to see
if the cancer is present. If it is the
doctor removes a "little" more until he is
successful.
This procedure took about three hours in
my case ....As the removal takes place you
go to a waiting room until the results are
known..Then return for more surgery until
they get it all.
The cavity created by this removal caused
quite a large cavity so my doctor took
skin from in front of my ear and grafted
it onto my nose. The skin graft took an
additional 1 1/2 hours.
Both areas are bandaged. You remove them
24 hours later and clean with proxide and
apply polysporim and rebandage. There
will be some blood on the bandage from
your nose. I was very concerned about
this and made several calls to my doctor
and was assured that this was normal. You
will see less and less as the days go by.
You will return to have your stitches
removed two weeks from the surgery.
"strip" bandages will be applied to both
sites and they will everntually drop
off.
At this time I still must apply poly to my
nose but the donar site is completly
healed. The skin graft is very light in
color and is slightly swelled. The doctor
says it will be several months before it
looks normal.
There is very little pain involved in this
process. The worse part is ensuring that
you don't bump or roll over on the site
while sleeping.
You can search the internet forever and
find a lot of info on mohs but nothing on
what to expect for the first few weeks
after surgery. I hope that this helps
someone.
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maddi244
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 2 Location: australia
3 Years Post Skin Graph Posted: 06-08-06 06:09am
I had a skin graph above my right eye
(about 4 cm in diameter). The donor site
was from my groin. The thing that I have
noticed since surgery is that the skin
colouration is a great deal lighter than
my facial skin. I thought that over
time it would eventually blend but it
hasn't. But I suppose the alternative
was to leave the skin cancer which is not
ideal....
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Peach
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 1
Thanks! Posted: 06-20-06 13:39pm
I'll be having mohs next week, and it was
helpful to read about your experience.