anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

i went about 2 weeks ago for my first skin cancer check. they took off 2 spots to biopsy ( that was bad enough! ) WELL i get the call today that they both came back with " abnormal, like precancerous cells, and surgery is recommended". GREAT!!! the best part is that one of them happens to be right in the middle of my cheek- i'm so scared i'm not gonna have any cheek left when they're done.
obviously, i know a scar is better than the alternative... but still!!
so, let this be a lesson WEAR YOUR SUNSCREEN!!!!

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

yes, my dad recently had Basal cell carcinoma removed. I hear it is quite common and it rarely rarely spreads! We think he had it for YEARS. The doctors said it was probably a bad burn from when he was a kid! Kind of scary - especially since it's hereditary.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

i had melanoma in 2004 on my cheek right under my eye. i thought they were going to have to take out a chunk of my cheek. they did but the surgeon did a great job and yes i have a scar but believe me its much better than the alternative. i might hate having to wear sunscreen everyday but its better to be living!!!

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

Yes, not me, but my Dad and two of my brother's. My dad's arm you can tell he had multiple surgeries (but he actually had skin cancer), and my brother's (precancerous cells), you can barely tell and it depends on how big the spot is.

Good luck and don't fret. They caught it in time and that's the best news!!!

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

Precancerous cells usually can be removed without it showing too much. If they are malignant, the surgery will be more invasive and will most likely leave a larger scar. But most are not malignant, so don't worry about that yet! Everyone in my family has had some removed. The curse of the Irish.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

my dad my sister and my cousin all did. you will have a minor scar. in the long run, a scar is 10000x better then anythign else.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

My dad and granmda both had to have surgeries to remove basal/squamous - they are doing great!!! Good luck to you!!!!!!

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

My DH's coworker just recently did. She had it on her inner thigh and had a chunk removed. They did an excellent job with the plastic surgery part and got all of it early. She was panicking but she came out a trooper.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

same thing happened to me after they removed 2 small birthmarks that had changed and looked abnormal.

I had to go back for 2 minor surgeries and had tissue in those areas removed.


It was pre cancerous thankfully. one scar healed well and you can only see faint mark of it, but one keloided (sp) and over 3 years later hasn't healed right.

Message edited 6/10/2008 8:28:49 PM.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

I have had 2 basal cell spots removed... one small one on the back of my shoulder and another one (about the size of a pencil eraser) on the front of my chest.

The one on my back was scraped away and you can't even tell that it was there.

The one on my chest was cut out (he basically cut a football shape area of skin away around the skin cancer, then they tested the edges of what they removed to make sure they got all the cancer).

I have a decent sized scar on my chest which got much better after several years. (found out after the fact that the chest is one of the worst areas on the body for scars, especially women )

I am sure if you talk to the doctor about your concerns for scarring, they can ease your mind about it! I'm sure it will be fine!

ETA: They usually have several different methods for removing these spots... talk to your doctor about the different options!

Message edited 6/10/2008 8:46:07 PM.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

I recently had a precancerous spot removed on my back by a moes (sp) surgeon.

Re: anybody ever have surgery for skin cancer??

my mother and my grandfather have both had cancerous spots removed. they are both totally fine