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Mar. 18th, 2026 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelOne thing I forgot to mention in my update yesterday is that yesterday's procedure was significantly more involved than I expected.
When I had the Mohs procedure done on my nose ten years ago, the result looked like a hole punch, and was able to close up naturally. They said at the time that normally they would do a skin graft, for a site that visible, but it ended up fine.
So that was more or less my expectation.
The blob on my ear, though, was bigger, plus ears are funkily shaped. So I ended up with most of the helix gone (it looked a bit ragged, from what I could see in the mirror they held up) and there was exposed cartilage. So to reconstruct that, they took a narrow strip of skin from the back of my jaw, starting near the ear and running down, which they then twisted up and over to form the top of the ear. The strip of skin was still connected at the top, probably for blood flow. The skin was sutured on the ear, and then the donor site was sutured closed (they joked about it being a one sided facelift).
So on the one hand there is no gaping wound or anything. On the other, there's a lot more area to bandage.
(The bandaging they applied yesterday stays on for another day, then for a couple weeks bandaging is optional because they applied dermabond, essentially superglue, which seals and protects... until it falls off, at which point I start applying Vaseline and bandages.)
I can't wear my hearing aid, which is on that side. My glasses sit a bit askew for now. And my ear hurts.
When I had the Mohs procedure done on my nose ten years ago, the result looked like a hole punch, and was able to close up naturally. They said at the time that normally they would do a skin graft, for a site that visible, but it ended up fine.
So that was more or less my expectation.
The blob on my ear, though, was bigger, plus ears are funkily shaped. So I ended up with most of the helix gone (it looked a bit ragged, from what I could see in the mirror they held up) and there was exposed cartilage. So to reconstruct that, they took a narrow strip of skin from the back of my jaw, starting near the ear and running down, which they then twisted up and over to form the top of the ear. The strip of skin was still connected at the top, probably for blood flow. The skin was sutured on the ear, and then the donor site was sutured closed (they joked about it being a one sided facelift).
So on the one hand there is no gaping wound or anything. On the other, there's a lot more area to bandage.
(The bandaging they applied yesterday stays on for another day, then for a couple weeks bandaging is optional because they applied dermabond, essentially superglue, which seals and protects... until it falls off, at which point I start applying Vaseline and bandages.)
I can't wear my hearing aid, which is on that side. My glasses sit a bit askew for now. And my ear hurts.