mohs nose done

MOHS NOSE DONE
i used this drawing below to spare you the actual pictures
even my wife she didnt want to look at it
but
after today she wont have a choice since i will have all of the 30+ sutures removed
and
then i will be bandage free except for steristrips which will stay on until they fall off
in about 5 days or so

this all started which i documented in this blog mohs and more

first
it was mohs surgery done about 2-3 years ago for a basal cell cancer
it started as a small speck of bleeding
i went right in and got it taken care of
then
recently another speck showed up in another spot
i was slow to go in thus the longer treatments and recovery these last few weeks

so let my story be a warning to not ignore these things
bleeding or change in a mole or a lesion or a new lesion etc
get it taken care of

so first
a simple biopsy and stitches was done
diagnosis basal cell

then second
mohs surgery where a piece is removed to see if its all gone
then
if not another piece is removed
then
if not another piece is removed
i did this 5 times

what was left was a dime sized hole what i called my blow hole

next procedure three by the plastic surgeon

then
as drawn in the picture in the above blog a flap was filleted up then set back down and was sutured in place
to increase blood supply to the flap over two weeks since this was the same area that was flapped before

then
procedure 4 was done
the filleted flap was lifted back up and the incision along the top of the nose was extended to allow for a better surgical scar result
this was then sutured in place with dissoluble sutures under the skin called vicryl
then
prolene sutures were placed in the skin to hold it all in place
i counted up to 30 sutures but was only about 3/4 of the way around so im sure its in the 40s

then
i had to wear a nose bandage now for 6 days
what a pain to bandage a nose
i have gotten better at doing it since this is my third time to do it

after procedure 3 and after procedure 4
i iced the nose 10 minutes out of each hour i was awake for the first 24 hours
which means i did it 24 times

i also was not able to wear my glasses for several days but thanks to my cataract surgery i could at least see out of one eye almost normally

then
the pain
since i had done this before i said
you mind giving me some pain pills
sure here they are

off to the pharmacy
nope that prescription isnt done right
its not on the right pad since the state just changed the pads

side note the state just changed the pads but also didnt allow for enough pad makers to make all the pads so a lot of doctors couldnt get the state sanctioned pads
the worst hit were the pain medicine specialists
and
retired family doctors from texas known as togd or the organicgreen doctor

now these prescriptions can not be called in you have to have a written one on the special pad
it was now after hours
so friends donated some of their pain meds to get me through
the next day we got another prescription for more pain meds
nope wrong pad cant fill it the unhelpful pharmacist said
i guess he thought i was a drug dealer or something

as hard a time as i had to get this filled i was starting to feel like one

ok
so when i crawled out of bed after the first day to go to the pharmacy with uncombed hair and bed clothes on as i leaned over the pharmacy counter with my jimmy durante dose throbbing like a heart beat with my blood stained bandage and with my nose dripping i probably did look like a homeless guy or drug addict
all i remember saying under my breath was
be nice be nice be nice
nope he said that ones not good either
my donald duck temper almost got the best of me
that temper has only manifested itself twice in my lifetime and i could have been arrested with both those episodes

now for procedure three is when this drug thang happened
so
i wanted to be ready next time
so
at my suture removal sans 3 i asked for a new prescription and returned the old one
i was told take it to a different local pharmacy
i did even though it looked just like the old one
yep
they filled it and i got good pain relief for 48 hours then i switched to tylenol

in the old days i wouldnt have gone through this the local pharmacist would have contacted the doctor and taken care of it

the next day when i took off my bandage my blowhole was gone and my nose sort of looked like the picture above except my nose was red and swollen and looked like a jimmy durante nose or
like a  nose on one of those allergy commercials

today it has now returned to its normal size and color
now i can see and count all the stitches
the result will probably be as good as last time

i wonder if i had gone in weeks earlier if i could have had a simple skin closure
and
avoided all this drug dealing and not wearing my glasses and being down for several days

i also know for sure i would never ever have a nose job done

so
wear a hat
use sunscreen
if you or your kids have a tan line you arent doing your job right

the organicgreen doctor