My nose hurts.
I had a basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, removed from the end of my nose on Thursday the 16th. This turned out to be a bigger deal than I though it would be.
The Doc had to “numb” the nose with a local, then cut out the carcinoma. I waited for about an hour and a half for the lab results. The Doc missed some the first time around, had to cut a little more. Another hour wait and the lab thinks the Doc got all of it this time. The surgical process included cauterizing some capillaries to help reduce the bleeding. Nothing like that smell, believe me.
Now to close the hole left by the surgury.
I have a Burroughs skin graft in place to cover the pit left by the removal of the carcinoma, which was actually a small tumor. Stiches. I dislike getting stitches, even if the area is under a local. 2 layers of stitches. The removal had left a pit about three-eights of an inch in diameter and below the bottom layer of dermis. The Doc took some skin off another part of my nose, put it in the pit where the carcinoma had been, and stitched me up.
In a week I will be back in the Doc’s office and have the dressing removed. He may have to sand down the skin graft edges to make the joint with the surrounding skin more even. Oh Joy! The top layer of the graft will probaly turn black or grey as new capillaries grow from the bottom up and the top layer of skin will most likly be dead before the capillaries get that far. Prognosis is 3 – 4 weeks to heal, then a while longer for the scars to fade.
I realize this is not major surgury or even close. Still, my nose hurts. Its giving me headaches. Sleeping – I sleep on my stomach – stops every time I roll over and hit my nose on the pillow. Taking a shower and trying to keep my nose dry is interesting, but it can be done.
Pam helped by cutting down a large Band-Aid and putting it over the white gauze and tape that decorates the end of my schnoz. The brown color is a little less obtrusive. I went to work with the Band-Aid in place.
Jerry and his taped-up nose
Moral of this tale: Don’t wait, as I did, or the problem just gets bigger and more painful to fix.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
‘can only hope that all goes “as planned”, with pain, swelling, “scars”, and carcinoma gone within a reasonable period of time.
Let’s hope the doctor did get everything — at least it’s slow-growth & non-melanoma, though always dangerous around the nose & eyes.
Hopefully you get at least a little sympathy at work — doubt you get much around the house!
I don’t care if you do have a band aid on your nose – you’re still a handsome ole’ guy! 🙂