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Well, after cancer surgery on the forehead, you don't cut a glamor shot...

TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

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I don't think I'll make this my avatar, since I expect rapid improvement. I'm posting in hopes that I can urge folk to get second opinions, when you're uneasy about a symptom. For years, I was told that a lesion on my forehead was psoriasis and prescribed a powerful steroid for it, which seemed to help. However, it appeared to get gradually worse. When it was biopsied, it turned out to be basal cell carcinoma and pretty extensive, since, the steroid, as the surgeon said, "fertilized" the malignant cells by suppressing the natural immune cells. I'm not even sure at this point if further surgery will be necessary and can anticipate a permanently raised eyebrow, which will be awkward, since my normal skeptical eyebrow is my left... :)
 

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twofbyc

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So I’m assuming the person who told you it was psoriasis was a dermatologist?
Still scary, but I’ve had so many basal carcinomas removed I lost count. They don’t metastasize, but having one on your forehead isn’t a great location.
Nothing wrong with a little permanent skepticism. [emoji12]


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TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

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twofbyc said:
So I’m assuming the person who told you it was psoriasis was a dermatologist?
Still scary, but I’ve had so many basal carcinomas removed I lost count. They don’t metastasize, but having one on your forehead isn’t a great location.
Nothing wrong with a little permanent skepticism. [emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Yes, and I just wish this one had been caught before it got the size of a nickel and deep. The small one in the middle, he didn't see at all and it was no problem...
 
Bazza

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Thanks for the informative post/thread, Earle. Good to know.

I've had some experience with dermatologists and they seem to always want to biopsy stuff to the point that every visit there's always something they want to get tested.

I'm a little surprised your dermatologist didn't do this, although admittedly I don't know all the details other than what has been posted.

That's funny about your natural skeptical eyebrow. I was just watching an old clip of John Belushi in "Animal House" and at times his eyebrow movements were hysterical!

Wishing you all the best with your recovery! :wink:
 
GrayTide

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To say I have been the "poster boy for skin cancer" would be an understatement. For about 15 years I used a world renown Dermatological Surgeon who I always had trouble scheduling apps. since he was always speaking in Europe or the Far East. Plus his practice, in order to make even more money, moved heavily to aesthetics, spa, etc. so I finally decided to move on and have found a female dermatologist who is very thorough, very personable and communicates very well. Before you ask, she is not hawt. Glad you had it taken care of Earle those things can get out of hand quickly.
 
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dayhiker

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Get better soon. I'm glad that it was at least caught now. I need to stop procrastinating and get myself checked.
 
TIDE-HSV

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GrayTide said:
To say I have been the "poster boy for skin cancer" would be an understatement. For about 15 years I used a world renown Dermatological Surgeon who I always had trouble scheduling apps. since he was always speaking in Europe or the Far East. Plus his practice, in order to make even more money, moved heavily to aesthetics, spa, etc. so I finally decided to move on and have found a female dermatologist who is very thorough, very personable and communicates very well. Before you ask, she is not hawt. Glad you had it taken care of Earle those things can get out of hand quickly.
Click to expand...
Well, mine would only be "hawt" if you were female or swung that way. Right now, I'm just mad as hell at him for his missed/mis-diagnosis...
 
TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

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GrayTide said:
Did you have the Mohs surgery procedure?
Click to expand...
Looks like that's next. They couldn't guarantee clean margins from the frozen sections, using conventional plastic surgery. I'm going in this afternoon at 1:15 to get the stitches out. (Even this won't be pleasant - my skin grows so fast, they're buried after six days.) And, I'll get the probable bad news on the final path report. In fact, the plastic surgeon mentioned Mohs as a further procedure to me in recovery. In his office, he had said Mohs was 99% accurate but the way he would do it was like 98.4% accurate. So, I guess that makes me a .6%er. Fortunately, there's a young Mohs surgeon who has just relocated to Alabama, based in B'ham but in HSV on Mondays. He did his training at Mayo's. In fact, if you go to the Mayo site, he is the doc on the video explaining the Mohs technique. His name is Stanislav Tolkachjov (has no accent). I have tentative appointments with him on the 12th, if only one lesion is involved, 26th, if no clean margins on either one...

Edit: The spot I was most worried about, the size of a nickel by my right eye caused an incision about 4" long and the tiny spot in the middle of my forehead is over 1" long. I'll be curious to find out if the Mohs procedure could have reduced the size of the incisions...
 
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TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

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Well, the path report showed residual cancer on the edges of the big incision, but the small one was clean. I guess it's onward to the Mohs procedure and Dr. Tolkachjov...
 
GrayTide

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I had the Mohs surgery at the cheekbone level on the left side of my face about 3 years ago at Vanderbilt. The surgeon was Oriental and, was funny as hell. IIRC he was a graduate of Johns Hopkins and did his surgical residence at Vanderbilt. He went back in 3 times before he gave me the "all clear". I have an appointment every 6 months with the dermatologist whether I need it or not. My next appointment is November 13th.
 
TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

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GrayTide said:
I had the Mohs surgery at the cheekbone level on the left side of my face about 3 years ago at Vanderbilt. The surgeon was Oriental and, was funny as hell. IIRC he was a graduate of Johns Hopkins and did his surgical residence at Vanderbilt. He went back in 3 times before he gave me the "all clear". I have an appointment every 6 months with the dermatologist whether I need it or not. My next appointment is November 13th.
Click to expand...
Well, as I said, the surgeon I've settled on has an almost unpronounceable name - Tokachjov. However, as I think I said above, if you go to the Mayo site, he is the one explaining the procedure. My incisions together span 5"-6", total. I wonder if I'd had the Mohs to begin with if they'd been that long...
 
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