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A month ago I barely endured Endodontic surgery (if you read that blog, you would think twice about having it) and yesterday I endured Mohs surgery. Although having two surgery operations in one month is brutal, the two couldn’t be more different from each other.

You may ask, “What is Mohs surgery?” No, it’s not a surgery named after one of the 3 Stooges. In a nutshell, it’s an operation to remove an oversized basal cell typically more than 2cm (one inch=2.54cm).

You may ask, “What is a basal cell?” No, it’s not something that you get from eating to much basil. It’s a type of skin cancer that comes from too much sun and in my case, can be too many sunny genes. Unlike melanoma, it’s not fatal but still needs to be removed from the skin. I feel like a voodoo doll.

So I went back in my mind 30-35 years and thought about tanning. I was never one for the tanning salon although I did try it a few times. I didn’t like how I smelled afterwards but I really didn’t like the “CLICK” sound after the session was over. One moment you are sleeping, toasty warm and in la-la land and the next moment, it’s like you were tossed from your car driving 50 miles an hour.

I also worked most weekends so I didn’t have a lot of time for the beach. But I do remember my parents taking me to this place called “Sandy Beach” and I know SPF wasn’t around then. I also remember going to Florida a couple times in college and bringing the infamous Hawaiian Tropic Dark Blend along with an aluminum sheet. Alas, I also remember getting the worse case of sunburn and freezing under the sheets for 24 hours.

Whatever the reason, I have basal cells and there is nothing I can do but take care of them. Mohs surgery is fairly simple. You sit or lay on a surgical bed, the doctor talks about restaurants and condos while he is clipping away your skin with multiple types of scissors and then he takes a scalpel and digs deep to remove the basil cell. This comes deluxe with 20 stitches and if you are lucky, you are done in one session which lasts about 20 minutes. I was lucky.

Due to the stitches and swelling, the doctor gave me the worse news of all: No working out for one week. No running. No yoga. No weights. No sweating. Nothing to increase your blood pressure. Oh, he told me if you try and your blood congulates behind your wound, he would have to do it all over again and then I would be out 3 months. I believe him. This will be my first week off in 34 years.

With endodontic surgery, I only had to wait 48 hours to workout. Hmmm, the worse possible pain but workout in 48 hours or no pain but no workout for one week. Don’t even ask!

Happy Tuesday!