The week went just fine. I wore the band aids on my nose, and the world did not come to an end. I made it a point to briefly explain and apologize for my appearance at the beginning of each patent’s visit so as to get it out of the way, but the truth is, they barely noticed. After all, it’s about them, not me, isn’t it? And that’s just the way it’s supposed to be..
At work, the staff I work directly with were great. My colleagues barely said a word, but after a meeting, one colleague did ask what happened, but very carefully. Compare that to my choral rehearsal, where the whole place went into the “Oh my god, what happened? Are you all right?” mode.
It’s funny – at work, we don’t talk about anyone’s health. The same colleague who asked me about my nose revealed in the same conversation that she had had a cancer last year. I had no idea. It could be because HIPAA has squelched all that conversation. But the truth is that few of us docs are really truly friends, and have little to no time to become friends. In addition, years of little battles over space and autonomy and time and money and workload have whittled away at what room we have in our hearts for each other. Those friendships that do form are often woven with shared dislikes and negative opinions about other colleagues. I’ve seen this in enough places I’ve worked to know it is not unique to my current place of employment. Academic medicine is just like that. It’s sad, really…
Anyway, the stitches are out and the steri-strips are on. Here’s a photo, but you really can’t see much because of the steri strips. I’ll post another next week when the steri-strips come off.
Thanks again to all of you, and to all my friends and family for their support this past week. It’s meant a lot to me.
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It’s looking good! I am sure everything will be ok.
I’m glad you’re coming along so well. Take care.
I broke my leg and wound up on crutches for 6 weeks. So much of each visit was consumed with “Oh my gosh, what happened, are you okay…” that I was running way behind every day (not to mention the inefficiency that comes with being on crutches). I finally told my front desk staff to say “She broke her leg…she doesn’t want to talk about it” as they were rooming each patient. The baleful looks each one gave me spoke volumes, but I hobbled around on schedule!
Take care!
It would take a whole lot more than sutures and steri-strips to mess up that nose – I told you that you got Mom’s nose! Looking great!
XO, OBS Housekeeper
(Okay let’s try that again with me paying attention to what I’m typing this time.) It’s better to be healthy with a scar on your nose than the alternative, but I know you realize that. I’m just glad you are okay with your sense of humor intact. And the body really does have an amazing ability to heal itself.
It looks like it’s healing really well, from what I can see.
I’m curious, do you tell your patients that it’s from a skin cancer? I wonder if maybe that would be helpful for them, in a way.
Just a comment about what I told people after my Mohs nose: I teach 4th grade and my students were really concerned, especially when I came back to school with a very large white bandage across the fron of my face! I decided to just tell them that I had a skin cancer removed from my nose. I explained that when I was their age, we didn’t have sun screen, and I have the type of skin that easily got sunburned. It made me feel better to be open and honest with them.
You look mahhhhhvaleous.(Insert Billy Crystal impression here…)
Best of luck on your continued recovery.
Bruising – better; nose – healing with steri strips. Looking good!
A
I want to respond for the record that I don’t think you have a Moh’s nose…nor do you have a Curley’s nose, a Larry’s Nose and certainly not a Shemp’s nose.
It’s a cute little Irish nose. Very approproate for St. Patrick’s day.
MWAK – I do tell them it was a basal cell, which usually gets us talking about sunscreen….
Thanks, guys! You are all the greatest!
I’m coming late to the party, but…
It is entirely unfair that you have green eyes AND great skin.
Oh, and the nose looks really, really good.
Thanks once again for these blogs. I feel like you’ve taken me by the hand and led me through this whole Mohs experience (something I’d never even heard of 4 months ago). Seeing visual proof of your healing has been so encouraging to me, even though I probably have twice as many stitches in my nose. Just one more day until the stitches are out and the steri strips are on. Progress. The week has actually gone by very quickly. I haven’t had much pain (only used Motrin), but I’ve had to get used to the numbness (and the stares). The silicone gel sounds wonderful. Thanks for all the research. When did you start using it?
I just found your blog tonight. Your posts about your Mohs experience inspired me to start my own blog: mymohsexperience.blogspot.com. My posts originally appeared on healthcentral.com as part of a long forum on the subject of Mohs scars. My blog is very primitive at this point; I hope to improve it soon. Thanks for the inspiration!
I was diagnosed with BCC on my nose in July. My experience is similar to yours–had the Mohs procedure earlier this week and the bi-lobed repair yesterday by a plastic surgeon. Thank you so much for your Mohs Nose blog. I am not sure I would have mentally prepared for the surgeries had it not been for finding and reading your blog. Let the healing begin!