May 26, 2008 Mohs Surgery

I woke up that morning with my head still in the sand.  This might hurt a little, I thought, but the big deal I made of the shave biopsy made me feel so foolish that I wasn't going to go on like that again. Off to the clinic I went. 

Bring a book, they told me.   I could be there all day and there would be an hour wait in between procedures.  I packed a bead project.  It would be a perfect time to finish the beautiful bracelet I'm weaving. 

Before Dr. Lund got started we had a little chat where he gave me the option go to under general surgery in the hospital for this because of the sensitive location.  Then the removal and subsequent repair surgery could take place while I was under.   I started feeling a bit sick at that point but then he told me the option also came with a risk.  The risk would be that they don't always get all of the cancer that way, but with the Mohs they did.

Time to suck it up buttercup! Cowgirl Up!

I uttered the words "I'm here,let's just get this over with".

OUCH!

This was NOTHING like the shave biopsy!  What was I thinking doing this thing awake?

Countless injections of numbing agents were placed in various spots around the corner of my eye, my nose, and my eyelids.  Every one of them hurt.

I could hear the cutting, it sounded like fabric only it was my face.

I could smell burning skin when each section was cauterized.

I was sent to the waiting room.  I could not see very well.  I couldn't focus to bead, that idea was out the window.  I couldn't read either.  And in the waiting room was the jabberjaws from hell.  They seemed like very nice people, all in all but one thing I wasn't in the mood for was the  three other people in the room.  One was a male patient and he had two women with him.  The older of the two women was a real jabberjaw and it was all I could do to keep from asking her to please shut her pie hole.  It didn't help that the chairs were hard as boards and uncomfortable as hell and remind you, the wait was an hour to an hour and a half between each slice.

Each slice had painful injections of numbing.  The long acting six hour numbing lasted all of an hour. 

Three sessions of this and I was told they were finished.  It was noon, and I was told to come back at 1:30 to see the plastic surgeon.  I even saw a picture of it on the computer.  Mind you, I couldn't see so the picture didn't look so bad!  

I had a bandage and nothing hurt so I went by the grooming shop for a visit and lunch.

I was oblivious!