MOHS on Side of Nose - Sacramento, CA

When I went to see the plastic surgeon for recommendations all he offered was the flap. I asked him to draw me picture and I was floored. Kind of in shock. I called a few days later and asked him for more options. He threw a few at me, but was still against letting it heal by itself. Even told me we could discuss it further on the morning of the operation. No way was I going in and then be pressured into something I was skeptical about. It all turned out better than I could ask for. I hope your procedure is minimal. The best of luck to you!

My wound was pretty much healed within four weeks (my surgeon said it was completely healed when I saw her at four weeks). The wound is almost not noticeable, even the color is gradually matching my original surrounding skin.
Please note that one of the articles regarding wound closing that I read stated that the concave area of the face is much more suitable for natural healing than the convex part. Prospective patients should keep that in mind. The Oculo plastic surgeon that I consulted with prior to my surgery stated the same thing, however, it was Sharon's photos and her post that made me taking the risk of natural healing instead of the skin flap.

I so glad that everything worked out for you.

Thanks for sharing. I am understandably apprehensive with waiting, and of course all the stuff you read on line just aggravates that. Hard to imagine that such a small mark on the surface can do so much damage below w surface.

I have insurance with Kaiser. My portion was the copay for each visit and procedure.

Good luck with your latest MOHS...don't forget the sunscreen during the marathon!

Ahhh, I'm so happy for you and glad that my blog helped you make the right decision. I'm going to post my last photo 2 month photo.

I don't understand what the "financial incentive" would be for a doctor that would be sending the closure out to a plastic surgeon would be? Or is the incentive to a patient that is getting more out of their insurance than to just let something heal in by secondary intention. Informed decision takes into account many factors some are financial but the overall goal to any surgeon is a great outcome and if that is better achieved by secondary intention then that is what should be done, sometimes doing less is better and doing more may not give you a better result. The problem with it all is that you sometimes have to have a crystal ball to know what is going to give you a better result and unfortunately patients and doctors don't have those. If the patient is happy that is usually what makes a doctor happy. Personally as doctor you should understand that more a doctor does on a patient the LESS he gets reimbursed for the procedure you as weird as it sounds you will find many of them will not take on the closure as it is a decreasing return on work let alone the issues of a good looking closure and difficulties of a patient that is not happy with the outcome of his work that bizarrely enough is the reason many find a forum such as this to help with answers. In the future try to always find someone you trust and you believe has a good heart. As with many things in life it will carry you far. Best

I'm sorry but I spoke to several MOHs surgeons in the U.S. before deciding to have my surgery here in London (I live on London but my family is in the U.S., where I'm from). All three of them charged extra for the reconstruction or would refer me to a plastic surgeon they worked with to do the reconstruction. So the financial incentive to do more seems pretty obvious. I'm not saying the doctors aren't also thinking about what's best for the patients but something is wrong. I've heard from so many people since my surgery who hated their complex flaps/skin grafts etc. I'm so glad my doctor did less rather than more.