It’s almost two weeks since I had Mohs Surgery for basal cell carcinoma. Not the big, scary deal you might think – in office procedure using local anesthesia – consuming a few hours of a Thursday morning. The surgery took two rounds of cutting, with a long wait in between each session to examine the tissue removed to make sure all the cancer cells were eradicated. My son provided good company and conversation while waiting. After the tech gave the ‘all clear’ sign, the doctor stitched up my forehead and sent me home with a compression bandage. I’m pretty sure I said, “Don’t taze me bro” to the doctor as he was zapping the incision with a cauterizing device. He laughed. I’m pretty sure I also commented, “Snitches get stitches.”
After the local anesthesia wore off, I had a whopper of a headache and was glad I took the $9 prescription for 6 tablets of Tylenol with Codeine. I took three that first day. Friday, the day after, was a sleep a bunch and rest day. By Saturday I was feeling good and down to a tape strip covering the stitched up incision. Note on stitches: Why do they use the blackest thread possible to stitch up a lady’s forehead? I’ve covered the incision with a bandaid for two weeks just to hide the stitch tracks on my face. Tomorrow, the stitches come out, and having taken heed of the advice of the nurse and kept this thing liberally covered with polysporin, it looks like the scarring will be minimal.
Lessons Learned?
- Fear of facing a challenge is usually worse than the actual challenge
- Be a beast when it’s time to be a beast, but rest when it’s time to rest
- Have anything weird going on with your body checked by a doctor – seriously – don’t procrastinate with your health
- Don’t let a skin cut or abrasion scab over if you don’t want a scar. Keep it soft with polysporin and keep it out of the sun
- Bandaid brand bandaids really are better than generic store brand
- Bangs are great cammoflauge
- Snitches get stitches