Nose Reconstruction After MOHS Surgery

I had skin cancer on the tip of my nose. The biopsy came back as "probably melanoma", so they treated it as such in the MOHS surgery and removed almost ½ of my nose including the left nostril and a portion of the cartilage in the middle. The MOHS surgery was on Monday, and my doctor contacted Dr. Schmidt directly about nose Reconstruction.

Dr Schmidt made time to see me on Tuesday afternoon, even though he had surgery in the morning and planned to close his office for the afternoon. He examined my nose and explained in detail his suggested course of action (a forehead flap attached to my nose and later removed when the skin graft took). He showed me pictures of what it would look like and explained in detail everything that I would go through. Despite the office being closed, he took all my insurance information himself and went over all the pre-surgery forms and diagnostic testing that I'd need. He even recommended a doctor available to do the blood work and EKG for me the very next day. Dr Schmidt did my forehead flap that Friday afternoon, even though he doesn't normally schedule surgery on Fridays. The surgery took six hours, and it was after 7:00 that night before it was done. I was so grateful that he moved so quickly on it and that something this major could even be repaired!

Throughout my recovery, Dr Schmidt was always very encouraging. My nose took longer than expected to accept the skin graft and the new cartilage from behind my ear, so Dr Schmidt arranged for me to spend time in a hyperbaric chamber and worked directly with my insurance to get it approved.

The forehead flap was extensive and stretched from my hairline down my forehead to below my eyebrow. After it was removed, the eyebrow had to be sewed back into place. I ended up developing a lot of scar tissue under they eyebrow once this was done, and it left my eyebrow significantly lower than the eyebrow on other side and all swollen looking. Once the swelling was gone and it was obvious that the eyebrow was going to stay too low, Dr Schmidt arranged for scar revision surgery. He, once again, worked directly with the insurance company, explaining that it was a result of skin cancer, and insured that everything was approved for the revision. Then, since I was going to be changing insurance coverage the next week, he once again did my surgery for me on a Friday.

I now have a new nose and my eyebrow is just right. People who know me and who saw me throughout the process have to really stare up close to see the scars. They are not noticeable from across the room or even from across the table, and makeup pretty much covers them completely. Dr Schmidt promised me that someone wouldn't see me from across the room and wonder "what happened to her", and I think he far exceeded that promise.

Thank you Dr. Schmidt! I went into the MOHS surgery thinking I would be scarred for life and left your care looking like nothing has happened to me.