Has anyone had basal cell removed?

[janedoe]

So it looks like I have basal cell carcinoma or, as I am referring to it, face cancer. Has anyone had this stuff removed? I guess it's called Moh's procedure? Does it hurt and how long does it take?

[msdogs1976]

I've had basal and one squamous cell removed. In my case they used a spoon like device and extracted it. Not sure what the procedure was called. Then they sent off the tissue for testing. Didn't hurt that I remember. I've had a few spots frozen(cryotherapy) and that hurt worse than the other procedure. Just a bad sting though.

I wouldn't worry about basal cells. They need to come off, but not really serious.

[SunDance]

Bob had Moh's done on the top of his ear. He'd ignored something that wasn't healing so it probably had a good head-start. (The derm found it at the appt. I had him make for a suspicious mole I saw on his back. That was benign.) He was at the derm office long enough for them to blast him two or three times. Seems to me he was gone about 4 or 5 hours. He took his Kindle.

He wore gauze taped to his ear for several weeks (they also removed some skin from behind that ear to graft/stitch on). I don't know what all he had to do to keep it clean, etc., but I do know that he had two prescriptions to fill. One was an ointment...the other was probably antibiotics. He still has a small scab and his surgery was on Sept 1 and he had two follow-up appointments. He also had a full skin scan (nothing found) and they say he has to have another one in 6 months since he's now considered at risk.

Not much ear missing...I was thinking I'd have reason to call him Vincent but that was only funny while the gauze was still on.

Bob tends to block everything out so he wouldn't be a good one to ask about pain.

[janedoe]

Bob had Moh's done on the top of his ear. He'd ignored something that wasn't healing so it probably had a good head-start. (The derm found it at the appt. I had him make for a suspicious mole I saw on his back. That was benign.) He was at the derm office long enough for them to blast him two or three times. Seems to me he was gone about 4 or 5 hours. He took his Kindle.

He wore gauze taped to his ear for several weeks (they also removed some skin from behind that ear to graft/stitch on). I don't know what all he had to do to keep it clean, etc., but I do know that he had two prescriptions to fill. One was an ointment...the other was probably antibiotics. He still has a small scab and his surgery was on Sept 1 and he had two follow-up appointments. He also had a full skin scan (nothing found) and they say he has to have another one in 6 months since he's now considered at risk.

Not much ear missing...I was thinking I'd have reason to call him Vincent but that was only funny while the gauze was still on.

Bob tends to block everything out so he wouldn't be a good one to ask about pain.

Oh, call him Vincent anyway. It's funny.

Another question. If this thing is right beside my nose and I get it taken out on Wednesday, do you think I would have a good reason to get out of attending a wedding ten days later?

[Indigo]

I had a Mohs procedure on a squamous cell on the side of my nose years ago. And I've had more basal removed than I can remember. A great deal depends upon your doctor and the clinic. The Mohs is where they remove the suspect area and then take it immediately to the lab to see if there are clear margins. If not, they take more and check again. That way they can take as little as possible and still make sure the margins are clear. If the lab is fast, the wait won't be long at all. I had to have 3 attempts to get clean margins and it was under 2 hours for the whole thing. Squamous cell often has skinny roots that have to be traced down. Mine did. I think Basal Cell is much more uniform and most likely they will get it all the first time. It's not a bad procedure. I didn't have a great deal of pain. To be honest the first shot to deaden the area was the worst of the pain. It doesn't hurt near as much as freezing off areas with the liquid nitrogen. Best wishes for a quick, painless procedure.

[barry581]

I've have 4 removed, 3 with Mohs. Basically the remove the spot, do a temporary closure while they check the margins of the tissue that was removed, if the didn't get it all, the open you right back up, take more tissue and repeat. I wouldn't say it's painful, more like uncomfortable. Figure like a really bad cut that needed some stitches.

[POPTOP]

My Dad had several removed on and around his nose. He did very well. My brother also had several removed on his face. We are all so light skinned and had a lot of sun exposure.

You may need a little dot Band-Aid to cover the spot but should not restrict you from attending the wedding.

[janedoe]

You may need a little dot Band-Aid to cover the spot but should not restrict you from attending the wedding.

I don't know. Sounds "bad" to me.

[SunDance]

Oh, call him Vincent anyway. It's funny.

Another question. If this thing is right beside my nose and I get it taken out on Wednesday, do you think I would have a good reason to get out of attending a wedding ten days later?

Absolutely...you wouldn't want to be the center of attention at somebody else's wedding. And you might have pain. Or difficultly applying makeup. Or a follow-up appointment. (that good enough?)

[sparky]

I had a BCC removed 9 months ago. It was an in office procedure with a local. They removed a section about the size of a quarter. It a simple process & I was back to work the next day. One side effect, when they stitched me up that caused my eye brow to raise a bit giving me a quizzical look for a few days!