Hand Me My Black Ribbon - Part 3

What about Part 2?

In the last post, I finally saw my stitches for the first time and documented the start of the healing process (I had a Mohs procedure to remove a basal cell carcinoma on my face at the Phoenix Skin clinic).  It's been super duper fun (not really)!

Sunday, October 29

As I mentioned in the last post, Sunday was a busy day.  Chris and I walked the doggos over to nearby Phoenix College (it's a slightly longer walk than normal, so we save it for Sundays, and Zoe starts to look forward to it about halfway through the week) and then made chilaquiles for breakfast.  I did a few things around the house (mostly laundry - there's always laundry) before cleaning up and getting ready for book club.  Post book club, it was back home to relax for the afternoon; after dinner, we headed to the nearby Japanese Friendship Garden for their Otsukimi Moonviewing Event.  An otsukimi is a festival dedicated to viewing the autumn moon, and like at our garden, it often includes food and drink, performances, and art exhibits.  It was a really neat experience!

The full moon in all its glory over the Garden

A few more shots from around the Garden - it doesn't occupy a huge footprint, but it packs a lot of loveliness into the space it has:

And a status update shot - the bruising under the eye is getting pretty yellow:

Monday, October 30

Huzzah!  I finally had my first night since the surgery sleeping flat again, and it was glorious!  I made it all the way through the night with just a few wake-ups, but I fell back asleep pretty rapidly, and I didn't rise until the alarm went off at 6:15.  Hooray!  I did wake up a bit puffier, but it was very much worth not having a weird cramp in my neck as a result:

A bit puffier on the left side, but a whole lot more yellow -

the color is slowly sliding down my cheek.

Worked out for real for the first time in a week, doing some upper and lower body strength training and getting on the exercise bike for 25 minutes at lunchtime.  My bandages seemed to stay in place (despite getting pretty sweaty), and the area didn't hurt more as a result of the exercise, which are good signs for the future!

Tuesday, October 31

The stationary bike ride yesterday didn't seem to have any ill effects on the stitches, so I tried a 3 mile run/walk combo at lunch today.  Once again, things seemed to go well, which was really encouraging!  The only drawback was not being able to wear my running sunglasses - wearing any glasses has been difficult for the past week - between the bandages near my left eye and the bruising/sensitivity, it hasn't been super comfy - so I've been avoiding them. I was finally able to wear my readers for work starting yesterday, but the running sunglasses may need to wait a bit longer.  I get my stitches out in 24 hours, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!! (The clinic sent me the standard, "hey don't forget you have an appointment tomorrow" email and text, and I told Chris the place would have to burn down to avoid me showing up, demanding to have these taken out of my face.  Even then, I'd ask to have them removed in the parking lot by any paramedics on site.)

Wednesday, November 1

Hooray, stitch removal day!  I worked the first half of my day like normal, and during my lunch break, headed to the Phoenix Skin clinic for my first post-surgical check up and to have the ugly black top stitches taken out of my face.  The tech I saw (a new person to me) was helpful and efficient, and she made quick work out of cutting and discarding the outer stitches from my suture location; it took less than 5 minutes, and the only moderately painful part was when she had to dig one of the knots out of my skin, since my face had been attempting to claim it over the past week.  That over, she smoothed a yellow, rather fragrant substance on my spot (I'm assuming it was either moisturizer, antibacterial cream, or some combination of both) and applied three small adhesive strips over the wound.  These will take anywhere from a few days to two weeks to fall off, and once they do, I'm free of bandages for the foreseeable future!  (Apparently, the significant difference in time is due to many factors, including how much you sweat, how oily your skin is, and so on - although it is cooler here now, I give them four days on me).

No more stitches, hooray!  (Outer stitches at least - the subcutaneous ones are still there)

These little adhesives strips aren't too bad, but I'll be glad when they're gone, too.

Tuesday, November 7

Well, my guess was off, since it's now been six days, and the little strips are (mostly) hanging on!  The one on the bottom finally gave up the ghost; the top of it was still attached underneath the middle strip, but since the lower edge was flapping around in the breeze, it was annoying and got trimmed off.

Ta da!

As you can see in comparing this shot to the one above,

my bruising and swelling is totally gone, which is so nice.

When I cut the strip back, I spent a good ten minutes cleaning the area underneath, including picking all sorts of interesting things out of my pores - I think most of the debris was the healing goo the tech slathered on when my outer stitches were removed, but after two full weeks under one bandage or another, there's no telling what that business was.  

Thursday, November 9

Another piece of the bandage came up today (and was trimmed off), and I had Chris grab a shot of the gunk coming out of my pores.  "Here's your incredible gross picture!" he happily chimed, handing my phone to me and wandering back to the television.

He's not wrong!

Also, brb - need to go trim my nose hairs.

Thankfully, most of those little yellow bits are just dried up healing cream on the surface of the skin, so they come off with just a light scrubbing from a wet washcloth.  This most recent trimming of the strips actually exposed part of the site, which was the first time I've seen it since the stitches were removed - it looks pretty good, all things considered!  I can still see the tiny holes where the needle came in and out, but I assume those will fade in time.  The tech who took out my stitches told me that I'd need to be really cognizant about applying sunscreen over the site, since it's new skin, and she's right that it's way pinker and fresher looking than the rest of the area.

Hi, little buddy!

Saturday, November 11

Went for a run before heading to book club today, and when I got home and took off my sunglasses, I could see the end of the last strip flapping in the breeze.  Although it reattached itself after I showered, it won't be long now!

The strip on the nose goes flappy, flappy, flappy

Tuesday, November 14

The last strip finally let go!  Once I fully peeled it off (and cleaned the area), things were looking pretty good.  You can clearly see the area where I had the surgery, and it will be raised up until the subcutaneous stitches dissolve (in two to three more months), but it healed really nicely.  Each day, I take a close look in my magnifying mirror to make sure the suture holes and main incision line aren't collecting junk (and if they have, I gently clean them out), and each night, I've been putting a thin line of Aquafor over the area before I go to bed.  I've heard of several treatments that could potentially reduce the scar's appearance, including Vitamin E oil and other topical creams, but in looking at research studies, most of them don't seem to have a solid history of efficacy.  Since most of the studies I read put each tested remedy in Aquafor to try it out, I figured I'd just use Aquafor to help keep the area moist and flexible - this is particularly important as Phoenix goes into its driest season of the year (we also still have a giant tube from healing running/biking chafing spots, so my decision was swayed by already having it on hand).

Here's Scarry!  Dr. Madden really did a great job.

Well, friends, I think that's it for now.  I'll try to remember to follow up with pictures in a few months to show the progress of the area and how it will hopefully lay down a bit more once the stitches under the skin dissolve.  The clinic did tell me that there's a possibility of my body trying to push a stitch or two out instead of dissolving them - what's called a "spitting suture" (lovely, right?) - and this has happened to a friend of mine, so if this occurs, feel 100% confident I'll be covering that on the blog.

As everyone who reads the blog clearly knows, I have zero qualms about sharing this information in the hopes it might help someone someday, so if anyone wants to reach out with questions about the procedure, my healing, or whatnot, please don't hesitate to do so.  Also, SCHEDULE YOUR SKIN CHECK!!!!  Yes, right now, please!

Later!

Amy