56 yo female. I had a pimple like spot on the end of my nose for 26 months prior to Moh's. The first 13 months my general practitioner thought it was related to my rosacea. It failed to respond and grew slightly larger, and bleed off and on. Around 13 months, I went to see a dermatologist, he instantly recognized it as basil cell and ordered a biopsy. Around 14 months of having this small cancer spot, it was first treated with freezing, then 4-5 months later it was C & D. Both failed and the cancer came back and continued to grow. About 26 months after first discovering the cancer spot on the tip of my nose, I went to see a skin cancer specialist that also does plastic surgery reconstruction. He performed the MOH's procedure on Nov 11, 2015 followed with reconstruction Nov 12, 2015. I will update as time passes, since I just had my surgery 3 days ago. There is lots of swelling, but no pain. I had no pain during the MOH's surgery nor any following thus far. Slight discomfort, but not worth mentioning.
Updated on 16 Nov 2015:
A little less swelling. More bruising showing. Starting to itch a bit. No pain. I shower normally. Pat face with soapy wash cloth, rinse well with shower water. Pat dry, then completely dry bandaged area with hair dryer on low setting.
Updated on 19 Nov 2015:
My nose has been rather twisted to one side, causing one nostril to semi-collapse while the other nostril is stretched from twisting upward. I'm quite sad with the results, but, I still have my nose and I have not seen the doctor yet since surgery. I have another 5 days to go before stitches come out.
Updated on 24 Nov 2015:
I got my stitches out today, and though my nose is still a little crooked, and the nostrils don't match yet....the doctor said my nose will straighten out and the nostrils will return to normal shape. The curve to my nose and the misshape to my nostrils is directly related to swelling. I go back in 90 days as most of the swelling should be gone by then. Doctor assured me not to worry, my nose will return to normal. Which is so amazing considering the work he did to fix the defect that cancer created on my nose. As of right now, I am 100% happy with the progress of healing, and I will send more updates every couple of weeks to see how my nose progresses.
Updated on 24 Nov 2015:
Thought I would add a couple more pics to see what my nose looks like now that the stitches are out, as of today. Nose is still swollen, and doc expects it to straighten out within the next 90 days as the swelling continues to go down.
Updated on 3 Dec 2015:
Here is a photo of my nose at 3 weeks after reconstruction. Will update again in a week or two.
Updated on 23 Dec 2015:
It's been six weeks since I had MOH's surgery on my nose. I massage my nose every night now for about 10 minutes to try and smooth out the scar tissue from all the incisions. Nose gets a little tender from massaging and a little swollen. Still healing well. Nose still has a curve to it, the end is not uniform, and one nostril is still larger, but overall, I am still happy with the progress, and thankful I still have my nose.
Updated on 12 Jan 2016:
Nose is still healing. It is getting straighter, the tip is a little bit rounder, but the nostrils still do not match. No one even notices I had anything wrong with my nose. I will return to surgeon end of Feb to see if my nose will need surgical touch-up.