r/MohsSurgery

I posted 2 weeks ago about the Mohs surgery on top of my head. Yesterday I met with the Radiation Oncologist, and it wasn’t good news.

I learned that squamous cell carcinomas have 2 types: a “normal” SCC that’s easily resected and a more aggressive type that requires more extensive Mohs surgery & spreads more rapidly, thus requiring radiation treatment. I have the latter, which the doc characterized as very aggressive in that 2nd type.

He recommended radiation treatment. So I’m scheduled for a total body PET scan & then six weeks of radiation treatment, 5 days a week. They’ll first build a mask for my head which will stabilize it from moving during the 10-minute zap of my head.

Question: Does 6 weeks, 5 days a week sound typical? My surgeon showed me a scan of where the cancer has wrapped around nerves in my dermis. It’s aggressively spreading, thus aggressive treatment. Is there something they’re not telling me? I’m super distressed it has spread & I’ve got a rough road ahead.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I am a little over two months from Mohs surgery/skin graft and as you can see the graft is noticeably raised/thickened at this point.

The plastic surgeon wants to inject a kenalog steroid but I'm nervous about it after researching some of the side effects/outcomes, though there is also not a ton of information online to work from.

Wondering about others experiences with it, and whether anyone knows if the graft might flatten out on its own with enough time...I want to trust the surgeon but feel like it's a tough call