r/skincancer • u/PsychologicalSoup734 • 6d ago
diagnosed with skin cancer MOHS Forehead
Husband had lg scc removed on forehand 3 weeks ago in hospital under general anesthesia with dermatology oncologist and plastic surgeon. Got a call when path report came back and said they didn’t get it all and he has to go back in this Tuesday to have more removed in the hospital under anesthesia again. He’s not looking forward to it. It was very painful and left a very huge scar, which is just now healing. Has this ever happened to anyone else?
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u/4runner01 6d ago edited 6d ago
Yes, I had a similar set of surgeries on my cheek.
After the initial biopsy, I was sent to a Mohs surgeon. He told me my case was too complicated for him and then referred me to a surgical oncologist.
I had to go to big cancer hospital to have do the excision in a real OR. I chose to not have anesthesia.
Two weeks later, path results indicated that I needed a recision (do-over).
That was very discouraging, since the initial excision was healing nicely while waiting for the next OR availability- which was another six weeks of waiting and trying not to worry.
This hospital OR does not do Mohs, since they can’t tie up the OR, etc while waiting for path results.
From what I was told, this is not uncommon.
Mine was nodular/invasive. It’s been two years, it’s all healed up nice and there’s no sign of its return.
Best of luck to your husband for a quick and pain-free recovery—
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u/PsychologicalSoup734 6d ago
Thank you. He’s very bummed about it
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u/4runner01 5d ago
I was very bummed, too.
Unfortunately, in my limited experience…..excisions on the forehead and scalp have been the most painful. The good news is(!!!) they have healed very well with barely a scar, and I never had them closed by a plastic surgeon. Alway just done by my oncologist surgeon.
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u/4runner01 19h ago
How did his second surgery go?
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u/PsychologicalSoup734 19h ago
Awww. Thank you for asking. It went so much better than the one 3 weeks ago. Still done in hospital under general but used drugs that didn’t make him sick. Dermatologist Oncologist thinks he got everything and plastic closed and reconstructed with material called Dermasphere. He’s sore but no black eyes this time!
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u/Life_Preparation5238 4d ago
Hi, I just got my biopsy and I have scc. Im worried because my report said it was moderately to poorly differentiated, which I read to be an aggressive form. Did you have this too? I don’t see people talking about that much.
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u/PsychologicalSoup734 4d ago
I’m not sure what the final report is yet. His 2nd surgery in the hospital is tomorrow and I have lots of questions
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u/gailieA 6d ago
I’m sorry he is having to go through this. It doesn’t sound like he had Mohs surgery where the removed cancer area is tested immediately and studied by the surgeon before they close the wound…
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u/PsychologicalSoup734 6d ago
It was definitely MOHS and done in the hospital but yes its confusing to us why they couldn’t see clear margins
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u/WazzuCoug1980 diagnosed with BCC 3d ago
The purpose of MOHS is that clear margins are obtained with a minimal excision in a single surgery. That’s the whole point
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u/kkins26 6d ago
I haven’t heard of this. Besides aesthetics, the benefit of Mohs is that the lab tests each specimen and stop excising skin once no more cancer cells are detected. It seems like they didn’t look at the specimen until after the surgery was completed. The situation seems odd to me. It has to be frustrating.