MOHS Surgery Shock

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Litl18
Litl18 Member Posts: 8 Member
edited July 8 in Skin Cancer #1

I am hoping to hear from anyone having had MOHS surgery and is willing to share your recovery and healing process, including products and/or procedures used.
I had MOHS surgery two days ago to remove a cancerous spot in the area between my upper lip and my nose. The spot is about the size of a pencil eraser…but I ended up with 21 stitches that goes into my upper lip. I am swollen, woke up with blood on my mouth and chin, plus a blood clot formed on my lip stitches. I cleaned the whole area with a gauze pad and water followed by a layer of Aquaphor and covered it with gauze. I have also been puttting ice on it throughout the day. I am in shock that I have 21 stitches that run into my lip, which makes it difficult to drink and eat. I’ve been taking pain meds to help manage the pain and discomfort. While I am thankful that the cancer has been removed, I am hoping to hear what I can expect as far as the healing process and scaring. It’s not a pretty sight right now but I know it needs time to heal. I just want to be realistic about what I can expect to get out of the healing process. I’ve been told to purchase scar pads (as opposed to scar gel) and was wondering if there is a specific brand that works best? Thank you for reading this and looking forward to your experience and suggestions.

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  • Meg2024
    Meg2024 Member Posts: 3 Member
    #2
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    I'm so sorry you're going through this. It sounds very hard. I've had 7 mohs surgeries on my face of varying degrees... some required only a couple stitches, others more. I don't know about scar pads, but you will heal and in a few weeks when the stitches come out you may find the underlying scar to be not as bad as it seems with the stitches in. That has been my experience. I had a vertical line of 8 stitches down my forehead in April, and now I can barely see the scar. (I'm in the middle of a topical chemo, though, so muy whole face is lesioned and raw scabs at the moment.)

    The first few days after mohs are tough, but the pain will start to fade and the stitches won't feel so tight after a few days. Hang in there. You got this.

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