Ears, Schmears...

So who needs an ear, right?  Well, someone who, um, plays by ear really needs an ear.  I guess that probably goes without saying but I figured I'd say it anyway, just in case there was any confusion.

Well, my second Moh's procedure on my ear went fairly well.  Luckily, the cancer hadn't dug too terribly deep into my ear so the doctor only had to remove a small amount of cartilage so it hopefully won't be too terribly noticeable.  I initially was pretty freaked out, though, when she showed me how much skin she was going to remove.  She basically circled the entire top portion of my ear...I mean...wow.

It turns out that getting jabbed in the ear isn't as bad as getting jabbed in the nose.  It's odd because when your nose goes numb, you really notice it because even part of the front of your teeth and gums are numb.  When your ear is numb, though, you barely notice it so the feeling isn't quite as strange.  What was a bit unusual, though, was when she was cutting through the cartilage, and the unique squishy sound that makes.  Again, it's a bit unnerving.  Of course, let's not forget the always wonderful cauterization that occurs after they do the cutting, where you get this wonderful smell of burning human flesh, namely your own.  It'll probably come as no surprise but I have found that my flesh being on fire doesn't exactly smell appetizing.

The sewing up of my ear was actually less traumatic than my nose, even with the taking of the skin graft, and so on.  The graft is a bit bizarre because it does pretty much sound like a cheese grater, only you're the cheese.  I have yet to see the actual wound on the side of my head because it's covered up but the bandage is fairly large.  Once the doctor took the graft, she promptly sewed it to the top of my ear and then also literally sewed what looks like a small sponge as well, something she calls "the pumpkin" simply due to the shape of it.  The graft has already turned pretty black, or at least what I can see of it, and my ear is still throbbing off and on.  The pain overall last night once the anesthetic wore off was not quite as bad as it was for my nose so overall I'd say the ear is actually better than the nose, although I now have the added pressure to make sure that the skin graft stays completely dry yet moist with Vaseline or less it might not take.  Oh, what a joy that would be.

If nothing else, this has been quite the experience so far.  It helps a bit that my doctor and crew are fairly jovial so we actually chat through most of these procedures and get a few laughs in.  From here, I just need to lay very low for the next 7 days and hope that everything heals according to plan.  I won't know until my next appointment next Wednesday, when they promptly start mutilating the top of my head.  Ah, what a summer.