Mohs surgery on nose & cheek

I read that those with BCC have repeated Moh’s surgeries too, But, so far I’ve had one in 2022. My incision wasn’t very extensive, but it healed well. I’ve seen some very severe Moh’s pics where the after shot looked amazing. I hope yours heals well.

I had it done on my nose. Freckled light skin and it is not the same. Noticeable to me, but maybe not to others. I must say mine was done during Covid times when we wore masks. It took weeks to heal and months to look ok.
The skin is so thin on the face. Report to the DR if it does not heal, but 3 years later and the color is not my freckled Caucasian, just smooth with no freckles.

I would be asking about libtayo infusion therapy
I have been on it since June 24th and have had no new SCC outbreaks. I do have invasion in lymph node which is the reason for my infusions

marem60 @marem60

I have had many Moh/s surgeries, I think 4 on my face alone. The last one, which was exactly 1 year ago, still bothers me quite a bit-- it was on my upper lip. It is very tight and painful. 1/4 of my upper lip is gone. I really don't know what to do about that one as I sure don't want to go back to the Dr. and have him do anything else to that area, The other ones look scared but do not hurt.
Maybe a plastic surgeon could help you, but 2 weeks is not very long time to heal. Give it a few more weeks.

I am choosing between surgical removal of the SCC on my cheek or going to gentle cure for the x-ray treatments. May I hear comments from both experiences?

@lynw Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I'm sorry to hear you need to have treatment for an SCC. So many of us here have been through the same thing; is this your first one?

Where is the cheek lesion they want to treat? Would a surgical removal create a scar area you don't want, or hamper expression? For example, I have had surgical removal of SCC on both eyebrows, and now sport "abbreviated" eyebrows. There is also a scar in the middle of my forehead from SCC removal, that I refer to as my "third eye". For me, I would prefer a surgical removal regardless of the location.

What has your dermatologist indicated is the preferred method they want to use, and why?
Ginger

Mohs sx on cheek and nose. The nose scar and shape has changed way nose looks. It was very invasive and they had to remove a lot of tissue from nose. Cheek scar healing & not as noticeable.

Hello @lynw. What kind of treatment success do you get with the xray treatment? I was under the impression that SCC is not very responsive to radiation. When I had radiation for my SCC I also had a targeted IV treatment once weekly to sensitize the tumor to radiation. This was all after surgery because margins were not clear. Is there a possibility of surgery after radiation if that is not successful? These are questions to ask your medical team to help make your decision. I have metastatic SCC and have been lucky to live 13 years with that. It is nothing to mess around with. Go for the cure.

I had SCC and had Mohs surgery on my scalp Sept. 2023. It took 5 months for the scar to heal, and my scalp bled for about 10 days after surgery. My scalp has been frozen, burned and cut. I know that Mohs is considered the “gold standard”. After the Mohs I vowed never to have those procedures done again. Since I have AKs that might turn into cancer I would go the Gentle Cure – Image Guided SRT route. At worst, what the radiation does is leave some redness that looks like a sunburn and then fade away. Good luck.

@marem60, It's very distressing to have these procedures on your face. I've had MOHS surgery for BCC above my left eye and also chemo cream for precancerous lesions on my nose. The latest was diagnosed 4 weeks ago. My nose looked like literal mince meat. It was so raw and sensitive. Four weeks later, it is healing nicely. Several spots that were deeper still scabbing over and skin looks more like scar tissue. However, huge improvements! After my MOHS surgery, above left eyebrow, it took approximately 2 months to fill in and heal. Prior to any further surgeries I will schedule a visit with dermatology office which specializes in the IG-SRT treatments.