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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsJust finished a tricky procedure.
Had a patient with a facial skin lesion he wanted excised. It was pretty close to the transverse facial artery, so I didn't want to tempt the beast. OTOH, it was a pretty prominent lesion. I know how badly he wanted it off.
I excised it pretty thoroughly; the pathologist will like what a nice specimen I sent him.
No spurting artery as I had been fearing. But there was some subcutaneous fat that had to be cut away. The more I got rid of, the surer I was that sooner or later, I was going to nick that artery.
Finished up. No problem. But I had been worrying about it all day...
2naSalit
(86,536 posts)Not many think about what the doctor goes through outside of the actual interaction. Glad your fears weren't realized.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,585 posts)And the more in touch with reality you are, the better the chance that you won't mess up.
Aristus
(66,316 posts)The pulsation was very faint, indicating sufficient depth that excising a cutaneous lesion wouldn't cause problems. But it's the complication you didn't plan for that is the one that presents.
All in all, not bad. I predict a biopsy result of benign dermal lesion.
Ms. Toad
(34,062 posts)The last excision I had done turned out to be a sarcoma. I believed it was cancerous and the resident and the dermatologist believed was benign (specifically, they expected it to be another dermatofibroma - like the 3 prior excisions in that location). They were humoring me by excising it at all.
Oops. That's literally the descriptor give to the accidental excision of a sarcoma before evaluation.
Hope your luck and inutition are better than theirs!
MOMFUDSKI
(5,500 posts)My husband had melanoma about 10 years ago on his back. They told him to tell all of his siblings because they had a greater chance of getting it themselves. So now his brother had a thingy removed that they said was PRE-MELANOMA and that PRE comes in 3 stages: low, medium, high and that his was in the high range. So did he have melanoma or not? He is a little doofy to talk to. Thanks
Aristus
(66,316 posts)If a patient comes in with suspected basal or squamous-cell carcinoma, I excise the lesion, biopsy it, then refer to dermatology if appropriate. If a patient comes in with suspected melanoma, I just put in an urgent referral to derm, and call for an immediate appointment.
Staging melanoma is something I have no experience with.
MOMFUDSKI
(5,500 posts)What field is it that you work in?
Aristus
(66,316 posts)n/t
momta
(4,079 posts)I'm an atheist. So I'll just say THANK YOU for what you do.
KPN
(15,642 posts)many genuinely good people in our party. I think its part of what keeps us going our fuel, so to speak.
MOMFUDSKI
(5,500 posts)on helping the homeless. That is special.
TygrBright
(20,758 posts)3Hotdogs
(12,372 posts)he would start humming to himself.
At that time, he was about a year out of dental school and a bit unsure of himself. My teeth were in rough shape from years of neglect and there was frequent humming.
Stuart G
(38,416 posts)Stuart G
(38,416 posts)3 mouth surgeries in a year........and..........I am still here...What do you know?...
........Thank You For Your Work...Yes,......... Dentists Save Lives!!!!.
.........................Now everyone knows.....
Aristus
(66,316 posts)Sounds like you had a good one.
Stuart G
(38,416 posts)...not sure... ...Ears, Nose and Throat Doctor...??...Thank You for your work,
and the lives you save....sorry I got that wrong....ain't the first time I got something wrong, & won't be the last..
Aristus
(66,316 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,174 posts)and cleaning is important.
BobTheSubgenius
(11,563 posts)I can never find the right words to express the admiration I feel for good, caring doctors. What a vast skillset a physician has to have at their disposal.
Aristus
(66,316 posts)BobTheSubgenius
(11,563 posts)And you obviously have a tremendous skillset of your own. I'll amend my previous answer to read "healer." I've had enough encounters with the medical community over the last 10 years to have a deep appreciation of the entire team's dedication, knowledge and compassion, top to bottom.