The "Sure Glad I Have Health Insurance" Story

It was an ordinary day. Back in the doctor's office for Mohs: Round #2 (check out Feb. 14: MOHS Surgery story). I had the first round in January of 2010. Dr. Jeanette Hebel removed the top 1/4" of myleft ear because of basal cell carcinoma. She reconstructed it so that you would never know I had surgery on it. Had 18 stitches on the inside of the top of my ear to reshape it. She did an unbelievable job. A few months later I was back for a routine check-up at my dermatologist, Dr. Brod. He found a few spots which he froze and two spots that were questionable. He took a sample of both spots for a pathology test. One was fine while the other, at the bottom of the same ear I had surgery on, was also basal cell carcinoma. If it had been below my neck he would have had me come back and performed the removal himself. Instead he had me see his associate, Dr. Hebel for the Mohs surgery. Dr. Hebel is not only a dermatologist, but a plastic surgeon. Mohs surgery, named after Dr. Frederic Mohs, is the mapping of the piece of suspected tissue, cutting the tissue, staining it, the interpretation of the tissue in a microscope, and the reconstruction of the surgical defect (plastic surgery). If after the first sample is removed and tested and proves to still test positive, more samples can be taken immediately and tested until all of the cancer is removed. I arrived at 10:00 AM for the procedure. Brought my lunch, a drink, and a book to read. After my surgery in January, I knew I would be in for a full day of fun. I had to have surgical removal of tissue four times before the doctor was satisfied the cancer cells were all removed. Each time she would take her scalpel and cut the tissue and place it in a Petri dish. Even though I had Novocaine in the area she was performing the surgery on, I could still HEAR the cutting of the tissue. The cancer cells were not real deep, but the roots from the tumor had traveled quite a distance. 26 stitches worth of distance. Didn't feel them, but again, HEARD everyone of them. She had to pull the skin from my neck up to reach the area where she did the surgery. The cure rate for this type of surgery is 97-99.8% so I'm positive she got it all. I left the office at 2:30 PM with the side of my face covered in bandages. In 24 hours I could remove the bandages and wash the area. I then would need to put Vaseline on the incision to keep it moist until I return next week to have the stitches removed. No bandage is necessary after the first 24 hours. Can hardly wait to see what it looks like. I questioned her about doing the other side of my face so all the wrinkles would be removed from this side also. Her response was negative so I guess whenever I have a photo taken in the future, I'll make sure it is of the left side of my face. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.