I had my surgery last Monday and after having several doctors and nurses telling me that my procedure would be very involved and complicated, it turned out the cancer was removed on the first pass. Absolutely no one (especially me) was expecting this result. This of course meant that I now had the option of having the Mohs surgeon close the wound (fairly complicated but well within his skill set) or go forward with the surgery planned for the next day with the plastic surgeon.
Pros:
- I get it done then and it’s over.
- I don’t have to have surgery the next day where it was planned to have me under for 1.5 hours.
- I don’t have to worry for an entire night about surgery the next day. (trust me, when you’ve had nearly 2 dozen surgeries from a car accident, you can’t help but worry and even fall into a little PTSD about surgery.)
Cons:
- I may not have the prettiest scar. Although a Mohs surgeon is trained in wound closure, they are not plastic surgeons.
It honestly didn’t take me long to decide.
“Go for it.” I told him.
I came home with a closed wound and the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to go to another operating room any time soon. Win-win in my book.
The first few days were rough, I couldn’t eat hard food and it hurt to talk, yawn, and my kids were under strict orders to not make me laugh.
On Wednesday I graduated to soft food. By Thursday I was driving again and doing a few errands. By Saturday I was at NH’s state capital marching for science.
I just got back from the doc’s office this morning where they removed the stitches. I’m now in phase two of wound care where steri-strips are making sure the incision doesn’t pull apart. Once those strips fall off (5 – 7 days) I’m done.
Well almost.
They insist I use SPF 30 sun block on my face and wear a hat whenever I’m outside for the next year. I’m not really a hat kind of gal.
“On a scale of 1 – 10 how important is it to wear a hat?” I asked.
“1000.”
Okay then. It looks like the retired beach comber look is the winner. In the end, with all things considered, it’s actually a small price to pay.
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Wendy Thomas writes about the lessons learned while raising children and chickens in New Hampshire. Contact her at [email protected]
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