I have an appointment on Wednesday to get a few moles removed from my face. I’ve had them most of my life, and for the most part they haven’t really bothered me. That being said, this last year I’ve found myself cutting two of them while shaving from time to time, which usually results in them bleeding for hours at a time (real attractive, I know).
You can see two of them in this photo. The first is the one on my right cheek, and the second is the one on my left upper-lip. The third one is really tiny, and it’s in the center of my lip (I don’t cut it shaving, but I figure I might as well get it out at the same time).
There are three options with regards to removing moles. Option one is to use a laser to remove the pigment. This works for flat moles, but not really for any moles that are raised (the one on my cheek is raised slightly). Option two is to shave them flat, in which case you basically end up with a large freckle. The disadvantage to that route is that many moles will simply regrow back to the way they were. The third option, and the one I’ve opted for, is to have them surgically removed, in which case they’ll be gone forever.
The surgery is fairly simple, and is done under local anesthetic. On July 8th I have an appointment at 5pm in Vancouver to have the procedure done. It’ll take roughly 45 minutes, and I’ll walk away with about 3 stitches in each area. After that, the moles are sent to a lab to make sure they’re not cancerous (just a formality, as mine display all the characteristics of being benign). I’ll have stitches in my face for about five days, after which they’ll come out and I’ll have to stay out of the sun for a few weeks (or put on some of the SPF 60 sunscreen I recently purchased for the event).
I probably could have made the argument with my GP that they should be removed free of charge, but in that scenario usually the GP will do the surgery, which ends up being a hack job. So in my case, given that I’ve already had experience with a plastic surgeon (the one that put my eye back in the right place and fixed my eye-socket), I simply opted to pay for the procedure myself out of pocket, mainly for piece of mind, and to know that a board certified surgeon would be doing the operation (one that has a vested interest in doing a good job, since we’ve dealt with each other before).
Having been through a few surgeries on my face in the past, I can’t say I’m particularly looking forward to it. That being said, it’ll kind of be nice not to have any moles on my face anymore, especially when it comes time to shave.
Aw, that’s kinda sad. They’re so Duaner. I don’t call mine a mole anymore – it’s a ‘beauty spot’. Mind you, my beauty spot is not one I have to shave around so I guess I’ll let yours go. Bye moles!
Yah I know. The one on my cheek has gradually gotten larger over the last decade, which is probably why I nick it shaving from time to time. So yah, bye moles!
My youngest daughter Emma recently had one removed from the back of her hand. It was not present at birth, sprang up on its own, and grew large & irregular.
That was a bad sign, so it was taken off in May. The guy was a plastic surgeon, but I still think it was a bit of a hack job. The scar is certainly larger than I expected. I’m hoping it will fade over time. Oh, and it was covered. 🙂 She was put under as well, so she wouldn’t freak out.
Yours should be a snap though! 🙂
Yah, that’s exactly the reason I’m going to a guy I know. I had two surgeries on my eye, and the incision both times was about 1.5 – 2 inches long under my left eye. Most people can’t even tell I ever had surgery, so I think he’s really good at what he does. In fact, the incision site isn’t really visible at all – what is visible (and barely so) is the scar tissue under the skin that results from cutting through the muscle to get to the bone.
I’ve seen some absolutely horrible “after” photos though, so I’m a bit worried :S
In your case though, because it’s growing rapidly, they have to assume it’s cancerous, and then are forced to take wide margins around the mole to make sure they get it all. In my case, since they’re assuming it’s benign, they focus more on the cosmetic result, at least until after the pathology results.
@Andrea – Also, most surgeons use a fusiform excision to remove the mole. By definition it has to be three times as long as it is wide. So most scars end up being about 3 times as long as the original mole was. Thankfully though they usually fade away so you can’t see them.
[…] few weeks ago I blogged about an upcoming appointment to have a few moles removed from my face. Well, today was the day, and they’re officially […]