"Mohs surgery for basal cell carcinoma"

I was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma on my nose at Pinderfields in Wakefield and referred on to the dermatology team on Ward C4 at Chapel Allerton Hospital for specialised Mohs micrographic surgery, which is only offered in specialist centres.

Naturally I was apprehensive about this on the day of my surgery, even though I had met the surgeon, Dr Hussain, previously and he had explained the procedure and what to expect very well.

On arrival Dr Hussain welcomed me and within five minutes I had been taken down to the treatment room. All the staff introduced themselves by name and went to great lengths to put me at my ease and keep me chatting throughout the examination, local anaesthetic and the procedure itself.

The carcinoma was removed relatively quickly and one of the advantages of the Mohs procedure is that a microscope is used to check to ensure all the cancerous cells had been removed from the root, so this was reassuring to hear.

I then spent some time in the recovery room with a bandage on the wound, before being brought back in for the repair surgery. Again Dr Hussain explained the options very well, as I could have either had a skin graft or a flap repair using a cut from my forehead to the base of my nose. After listening to his advice on the likely best cosmetic appearance, I opted for the flap repair.

Once again the team kept me comfortable and chatting to distract me from the local anaesthetic and helped keep the ordeal of the procedure - which necessitated quite a large number of stitches - to a minimum.

I'd particularly like to thank Lisa, one of the nurses on the unit, who very patiently helped me with controlling a small but persistent bleed after the operation, and a week afterwards on my return as an outpatient removed my stitches in a very professional way. It was also reassuring to see Dr Hussain again on that occasion and receive confirmation that all was progressing well.

This is a difficult part of the body to have surgery on but my face is now healing well and I feel very confident that I have had the best possible treatment for my condition. Many thanks to all the team for an outstanding patient experience.