@bouf1948 The doctor did say that I should do the surgery then the cream because she said the cream was so painful. I gave myself 14 days to think about this and decided that if the cream was unbearable I could stop it but surgery was a permanent decision to make.
I don't regret my decision so far, and the pain did get intense but I just took a week off and started again. The burning comes from the good skin as Aldara burns it, so try to put the cream only on the affected area and not too thick. No painkillers taken during the time on Aldara.
Reading some of the notes here I would say the surgery would be worse than the cream.
Hope the pain eases for you soon.