Round Two- MOHS Surgery

I had to go back for round two. When I got back to the surgery room my doctor ended up having to give me a hefty number of additional shots in my nose because all of the original medication had worn off (This was not normal. The medication should have lasted but I seemed to have a high tolerance to it. It would wear off at a very quick rate.) Lets just say I couldn't stop crying during the rounds of shots. It hurt super bad!! Besides the shots, I got some good news and some bad news. During this round they would have to take additional cells out and go deep into my nostril. Dr.Parker told me that he is definitely going to have to use the cartilage from my ear tomorrow during the plastic surgery to form a new nostril. So that is the bad news. Good news is that the area is not larger in area than expected. This is great news because sometimes the whole area is not visible by eye and they could have to take a large area of skin off (For example, it could have spread to my cheek or to the other side of my nose. Luckily this was NOT the case) SO it was great that it was just the left side of my nostril like Dr.Parker had expected but not so great that it was deep into the layers of skin. After Dr.Parker explained everything to me and the shots had kicked in, we began round two. It seemed to take a longer amount of time. During the beginning of the process you don't hear or feel much of anything. The only thing I could hear was the sound of Dr.Parker breathing and the only thing I could feel was the nurses finger way up my nose. The smell of the latex glove deep in my nose was not pleasant. I'm guessing this is when he is just removing the cells. I am not positive as to what is going on because my face is completely covered by a towel with a hole in it for my nose. I literally can't see anything. After the silent process a loud machine is turned on that sounds like a saw with a mixture of the sound that is made when you spray shaving cream. The smell that is produced by this machine is horrid. It smells like burnt skin. My doctor said that this machine stops the bleeding. Thank the Lord above that I can't feel any of this. After that I was bandaged and sent to the waiting room where I found myself crying uncontrollably. Being able to look down and see that most of my nostril was missing was very hard for me. Luckily Mom and Brian were there to help me through it all. After waiting one and a half hours the nurse called me back again to tell me that I was DONE FOR TODAY. I was so relieved that they were able to get all the cancer out during round two. The nurse explained that I needed to keep my head elevated and to not remove the bandage. I was prescribed pain medication, we paid and by 1:00 PM we were on our way out the door.

Mom, Brian and I went to Cheesecake Factory to eat lunch. I fell asleep on the drive home and then came home and immediately went to bed. About 30 minutes ago I was woken up by a stream of blood running out of the bandages. The nurse explained that this might happen and that I would need to apply pressure for 30 minutes to stop the bleeding. Mom, Cody (my brother) and I finally got it to stop bleeding.

Here is a picture of the bandage after Round Two (notice it is much larger and thicker from the bandage from Round One)


Here is a picture of my current self, laying in bed with Chanel. My poor pup is so worried that she won't leave my sight. It's amazing how dogs have that sense.


That is all for today. I will just be laying in bed, trying to keep my head elevated. Tomorrow at 2:30 PM I will have the plastic surgery to put my nose back together. I will post all about it when it's over. Tomorrow is not only a big day because my nose will be put back together but it's also very important because I have a job interview at 1:00 PM. I know it sounds crazy to go to an interview with this big, ugly bandage on my nose but I can not let the opportunity slip through my fingers. There is nothing more that I want in this world than to have a classroom of amazing little ones to teach when school begins and I was afraid that if I rescheduled the opportunity would slip away and I would regret that forever. Tomorrow I will be put to the test with my confidence and strength. It's sad but I am more nervous about the job interview than the plastic surgery.

I also want to say THANK YOU for all the prayers, text messages, facebook comments and phone calls from amazing friends and family. Y'all are the ones who help me keep my head up! : )

Love,
Staci