My husband had a Mohs surgery on his ear a couple months ago and it was a really good way to get rid of ALL the cancer.

His surgeon did it in really interesting way. I had thought that they would take the first slice, then wait in the room where he was while they looked at the pathology, then take another, etc until all the cancer was gone.

Instead, they took the first slice, then back to waiting room. Next person, first slice while they were looking at the pathology, then another person, first slice…

Then a round of second slices, then thirds.

It took longer than I’d thought but it was really good talking to other family members and patients during that time.

From the Mayo Clinic…

Mohs surgery is a precise surgical technique used to treat skin cancer. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are progressively removed and examined until only cancer-free tissue remains. Mohs surgery is also known as Mohs micrographic surgery.

The goal of Mohs surgery is to remove as much of the skin cancer as possible, while doing minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Mohs surgery is usually done on an outpatient basis using a local anesthetic.

Mohs surgery is an improvement to standard surgery (local excision), which involves removing the visible cancer and a small margin of surrounding healthy tissue all at once. Mohs surgery allows surgeons to verify that all cancer cells have been removed at the time of surgery. This increases the chance of a cure and reduces the need for additional treatments or additional surgery.