Surgery Number One Done

Wednesday I saw my dermatologist for an ED&C, the procedure she uses for removal of small basal cell carcinomas. She's done a few on me in the past, including one in March on a basal cell that was near the one she removed this week on my right arm.

The procedure itself is not too bad, once you get over the sting of the lidocaine shot. The whole thing only took about 10 minutes. For me the issue is my allergic reaction to anything with adhesive. They want me to keep this covered for two weeks, and that will definitely be a challenge. I have tried every type of bandage out there, including the so-called sensitive skin ones. They all make me itch and break out. 

Last night I put on a gauze pad and wrapped an elastic bandage around my arm to hold it in place. It held up pretty well, but even the elastic bandage irritated my skin a bit. I'm going to try a different brand tonight and see if that works better.

My Mohs surgery for the basal cell on my left temple is scheduled for September 25th. That one will take several hours as they remove tissue, wait for it to be read by a pathologist, and then take more as needed. I'm definitely not looking forward to that, and pray that the doctor will get it all in one or two tries. It was really unnerving when it took five attempts to get all the cancer on my nose in 2019.

Also on Wednesday I had my annual mammogram. I had to go to a different radiology center as my insurance changed January 1. The office was very efficient, and I was in and out in no time. Now I just have to wait for the pathology report.

Not Immune to Infection

today's sunrise

Well, unfortunately my ED&C surgery resulted in an infection. By Saturday the area around the excision site got red, warm and hard. Sunday the red area had increased in size and my arm began to hurt. First thing Monday I called the doctor's office and explained what was going on. They had me take a photograph of it and text it to them.

As the doctor was confidant that it was indeed infected, she ordered an oral antibiotic for me. I have to take it twice a day for 10 days. I'm now on the fifth day of using them, and the area definitely looks better than it did originally. I guess I was expecting it to be almost healed by now. The redness, warmth and hardness are gone, but the wound itself still has some oozing going on. That's probably normal, but with my allergy to adhesives, keeping a bandage on it has been very difficult so I really need it to dry up. I've been keeping it open to the air during the day, wearing only sleeveless shirts. So I have been pretty housebound for a week since I can't put a jacket over the open sore.

I did cover it up Wednesday evening as we had registered for a floral watercolor class that was being offered here in the neighborhood. It was nice to get out for a bit, and the class was pretty good. I need to work on some of the techniques we learned for sure. Some of my flowers definitely do not look like what they are supposed to be!

floral watercolor class

More Basal Cell Surgery

basal cell surgery

Yesterday the dermatologist performed an ED&C to remove the two basal cell carcinomas they found on my neck last month. Basically this involved them numbing the two spots, and then using a tool to scrape off the skin cells. She performed this procedure three times on each spot, using a cautery machine between each scraping to stem the bleeding. It really didn't take her too long, and the worst parts were the shots to numb the areas and the smell of something burning when she used the cautery machine.

The two spots were bandaged when she was done, and I reminded them that I have an allergy to the adhesive on bandages. This time they used gauze and some non-latex tape. I'm supposed to keep Vaseline and bandages on for two weeks, but I doubt I'll be able to tolerate that even with the new tape. She said as long as I keep the spots moist with Vaseline, the bandage really doesn't matter. I suspect they are really to protect my clothes from the ointment, as well as the sores from being rubbed by my clothes.

I haven't removed the bandages yet as I am going out to dinner and to a play with a few of my female pickleball players from the neighborhood. I wasn't sure I would be able to secure the gauze as well as the nurse did. I'll definitely do it when I get home tonight though. It will be interesting to see what the wounds look like since I haven't had this procedure done before.