Day 8 post op
I had my first post op appointment with Dr. Smith today. He said there's good news and bad news. The good news was that, even though my nose looks horrible, that's exactly the way it's supposed to look. It's healing correctly. The bad news was that basal cell skin cancer was detected in the tissue that was removed from my nose. There's no way to know what part of my nose the sample came from, so it'll just necessitate keeping a close eye on my nose in the future to detect any possible further cancer developments early. He said I should switch from Aquaphor to the diaper rash ointment with vitamins A and D. He gave me a sample of a similar ointment to use.
I asked about cleaning and explained my regimen with the toothbrush. He said to switch to Dawn dishwashing soap, to put a drop on my finger, rub it on my nose, let it sit for a couple of minutes, then rinse it off. It should cut the grease of the Aquaphor or diaper ointment better than the Dial. I asked about activities like exercising and tennis. He said anything I want to do is fine as long as I keep my nose out of the sun. I explained about my nose shield and he thought that sounded great. I asked about the other medication that was used by the anesthesiologist. He didn't know for sure what it was. I thanked Dr. Smith for removing the other spots on my face. He also said it would be three or so weeks before my nose is covered with new skin. I asked about whether or not I needed to shade my nose when walking from my car into a store, for example. He said I only needed to shade it for such activities as tennis and golf.
My next post op appointment will be in two weeks.
I went to Walmart later in the day and bought Dawn dishwashing soap (I got one that says it's antibiotic), some individually packaged alcohol swabs for cleaning the nose shield, some travel packs of facial tissues (for keeping in my pocket so I can wipe the ooze), and found some Kleenex brand, disposable hand towels. When I tried them later, they were much better at blotting my nose after washing than the napkins.
After I washed my nose using the Dawn that evening (it worked better than the Dial at washing off the Aquaphor), I applied the Desitin diaper ointment. It's similar in look, feel, and consistency to the Aquaphor. I'd expected more of a zinc oxide product, but this version is petrolatum based. Overnight, it seemed to ooze off the sides of my nose more than the Aquaphor had, necessitating more frequent wiping of the corners of my nose and moustache with tissues.
