Surgery

So I had MOHS surgery last Wednesday to remove basal cell carcinoma from the right side of my forehead. I was very glad I went to see my dermatologist last month for a mole on my back. While I was there I mentioned to her that I had this really faint pink spot on my forehead that showed up about a year ago. At first I dismissed it thinking it was just some scab and so I put neosporin on it & let it go. Well, months later it still never went away completely. I often would just put concealer over it and didn't think it was a big deal. However, it just bothered me because it didn't use to be there. While I was at the dermatologist I mentioned it to her more so out of frustration and a little bit of vanity. Immediately she said she was concerned because it has all of the signs of basal cell. She looked at it under a magnifying glass & said she wanted to biopsy it. A week later her intuition was confirmed...it was basal cell carcinoma. Her recommendation - have MOHS surgery to remove it.

They told me to plan to be there all day. Ben & I dropped the kids off at the sitter's house (this was Olivia's first day away from home & she did great).  It's pretty bad when our day away from the kids is spent at a doctor's office. :)  First they numb the area and then take off a layer of skin. This only takes about 10 minutes but then we had to wait 2 hrs while they did lab work to make sure they get all of the basal cell. If not, they  go back in and do the whole process again which means waiting another 2 hrs. I was hoping they would remove all of mine on the first try since it wasn't that big and it hadn't been there very long. Well, they had to take off more a second time! There were some roots that they didn't get the first time. Luckily after the second try, they removed all of it. Before they put my forehead back together, they let me see the hole in my bed (literally)! It was pretty deep and I never thought they could go that deep on the forehead of all places. I left the office at 1:30 after having arrived at 9am! It was a long day and I left with a pretty bad headache. I managed the pain pretty well by taking tylenol every 4 hrs for 2 days instead of the prescribed vicodin. I had a lovely big white pressure bandage the first 24hrs.  When I picked up the kids Samuel freaked out. He said, "Take it off, Mommy!" over and over and proceeded to throw a fit the whole car ride home. Luckily it is only a 5 minute car ride! I said over and over, "Buddy I wish I could take it off".  Oh & I sure looked good at work the next morning with a big white bandage which stuck out about 3 inches from my head! Once I removed the silly white bandage, I was left with only a small brown bandage which I still have. I have to leave it on another week and cannot get it wet.

All in all it was a pretty humbling experience! They said I am definitely one of the younger ones. Rarely do they do this procedure on anyone under the age of 50!  My fair skin & blue eyes are not my best friend when I'm in the sun evidently. I will now always wear SPF of 30 and try to not stay out in the sun for extended periods of time in the sun. I am 40% more likely to get more of this now that I've had one. Plus, living at 6,000 ft elevation means I'm closer to the sun. Lesson learned.

My kids are exactly like me...fair skinned & blue eyed. I will try my hardest to keep their skin safe for as long as I can in hopes that they don't get this when they are older. I'm just glad that this is over & kudos to my dermatologist for recognizing it right away!  
Here's a picture of my bandage that has become my signature mark lately.