MOHS Surgery Shock

Litl18
Litl18 Member Posts: 12 Member
edited July 8 in Skin Cancer #1

I am hoping to hear from anyone having had MOHS surgery and is willing to share your recovery and healing process, including products and/or procedures used.
I had MOHS surgery two days ago to remove a cancerous spot in the area between my upper lip and my nose. The spot is about the size of a pencil eraser…but I ended up with 21 stitches that goes into my upper lip. I am swollen, woke up with blood on my mouth and chin, plus a blood clot formed on my lip stitches. I cleaned the whole area with a gauze pad and water followed by a layer of Aquaphor and covered it with gauze. I have also been puttting ice on it throughout the day. I am in shock that I have 21 stitches that run into my lip, which makes it difficult to drink and eat. I’ve been taking pain meds to help manage the pain and discomfort. While I am thankful that the cancer has been removed, I am hoping to hear what I can expect as far as the healing process and scaring. It’s not a pretty sight right now but I know it needs time to heal. I just want to be realistic about what I can expect to get out of the healing process. I’ve been told to purchase scar pads (as opposed to scar gel) and was wondering if there is a specific brand that works best? Thank you for reading this and looking forward to your experience and suggestions.

Comments

  • Meg2024
    Meg2024 Member Posts: 4 Member
    #2

    I'm so sorry you're going through this. It sounds very hard. I've had 7 mohs surgeries on my face of varying degrees... some required only a couple stitches, others more. I don't know about scar pads, but you will heal and in a few weeks when the stitches come out you may find the underlying scar to be not as bad as it seems with the stitches in. That has been my experience. I had a vertical line of 8 stitches down my forehead in April, and now I can barely see the scar. (I'm in the middle of a topical chemo, though, so muy whole face is lesioned and raw scabs at the moment.)

    The first few days after mohs are tough, but the pain will start to fade and the stitches won't feel so tight after a few days. Hang in there. You got this.

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #3

    I hope you are healing well! I had Moh’s surgery on my arm on the dr said it would take six weeks for the stitches to heal underneath. I had an allergic reaction to something they put on before cutting and had a rash for over a month. I’m having another Moh’s surgery in a few weeks on my face, I’m hoping for a small scar.

  • Litl18
    Litl18 Member Posts: 12 Member
    #4
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1716450#Comment_1716450

    Thank you for sharing your experiences! The incision is healing slowly and each week I see improvement. I am using scar pads, recommended by my Mohs surgeon, to cover the incision and it is definitely improving. I am hoping that with time I will experience the same results as you and barely see the scar.

  • Litl18
    Litl18 Member Posts: 12 Member
    #5

    Hello! Thank you for sharing your mohs experience! I’m sorry to hear about your allergic reaction, hopefully that will not happen again for your upcoming mohs surgery in a few weeks.
    I was hoping for a small scar on my face too but was surprised that it ended up being 21 stitches down into and under my top lip. It is healing and I see improvement each week. I hope it heals where you can barely see the scar and I can use a makeup to cover it.
    Good luck with your upcoming surgery! I’d love to hear from you on how it went!

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #6
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1717488#Comment_1717488

    Thanks! I will post an update.

  • KimR68
    KimR68 Member Posts: 2 *
    #7

    I had MOHS (on my nose) in April and was extremely surprised at the amount of pain in the nose area. The area where they took skin for reconstruction is still very tender. That may be due to the fact that I wear glasses too, and I don't think that helped at all. It has taken a LONG time for the scar from the reconstruction to heal, but I am doing well overall. I am sorry to hear of those who have had huge scars.

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #8
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1717488#Comment_1717488

    I had my surgery yesterday and it took 5 hours & I had to go back three times to remove all the cancer. I will take the pressure bandage off tomorrow. My face is really swollen and will have at least 1 black eye. Hopefully it will look a little better when I can re-bandage. I have a long scar down one side of my nose. I think once everything is healed and I wear makeup it won’t be noticeable. My phone didn’t recognize my face today.

  • Litl18
    Litl18 Member Posts: 12 Member
    #9

    I am sorry to hear you had to go back three times for all of the cancer to be removed, that was a long process! I found that Icing helped me a lot with the swelling. I’m curious if you have had numbness in the area of your stitches/scars. I’m two months out and it’s still numb. I wish you the best in your recovery and healing process!

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #10
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1717804#Comment_1717804

    I’m going to take the dressing off tomorrow to clean the area. I have feeling in the rest of my face with really bad swelling all over my face, eyes, and goes up to my forehead. I can’t tell if I have feeling by the stitched area in my nose yet because the bandage is so big and bulky.

  • Litl18
    Litl18 Member Posts: 12 Member
    #11

    Hello! Just checking in with you to see how recovery is going?

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #12
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1717890#Comment_1717890

    I hope you are healing well!

    I got my stitches out today and the pain is almost gone. My face is still swollen on one side and I have a big scar. Hopefully the swelling will go down. I have a big lump between my nose and cheek on the side of the cancer, the scar is 1 1/2 inches down one side of my nose. After two weeks she said to use scar pads. I’m going to wear them daily when I get home from work to when I wake up-Hopefully that will help.

    I have a new lesion on my arm, and my Dr sent a referral to the dermatologist for another biopsy. Hopefully it will be negative.


  • Meg2024
    Meg2024 Member Posts: 4 Member
    #13

    Just got another biopsy result today, and headed in next Thursday for my 8th mohs surgery. They're just becoming a regular thing, now. It's such a pain to continue but I'm also grateful they're finding them and removing them. I did a 6 week round of topical chemo that killed a lot of the cancer but not all. I've also had some melanoma removed.

    I'm starting to understand that this might be a forever process. Big hugs to everyone enduring skin cancer surgeries. I'm encouraging my friends to get regular scans, because early detection is key. We can all get through this💪

  • Michele30
    Michele30 Member Posts: 8 Member
    #14
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1717891#Comment_1717891

    Another update:

    The dermatologist said my arm was pre-cancer and did cryotherapy to get rid of it- he said if it grows back he will do a biopsy.

    Now I have another lump on my nose under the incision line that looks/feels like the first lump before the biopsy. I go in next week to the Dr who did my Moh’s surgery to evaluate the lesion, I’m hoping for no biopsy. This is supposed to be a slow growing cancer that only 1% come back after Moh’s- it was nodular basal cell carcinoma.

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