Surface level - Caution: Graphic in content

I have just this morning gone through removal of Basel cell carcinoma, not the trauma that others have to go through, but enough to get my attention. This whole process offered insight and understanding.
Though routine for them, not a bit of this is familiar to me.
Lesson 1. Trained medical care good, not just book smarts.....but practical application and success referenced in their "routine."

Area needing attention, removal "it looks small on the outside." Holy c&!p, what they had to remove below the surface was the size of the iceberg that sank the "Titanic"
Lesson 2. What I see is not always the truth, do not judge by outward appearance.


I kept asking to see it along the way, throughout the process, why? Really, why? You see I had an incredible vantage point as it was all happening in front of an eye! My view was the inside view looking out. It was like the instant replay examining the play from a different view. Or like child birth, incredible to watch as it happened in my life, not yours.
Lesson 3. Do not look along the way, it will scare you. Can you say "fugly?"

When removal complete, the real work begins. To think this pterodactyl crater on my face was not large enough. Everything was cut apart to rejoin. Literally, talk about vision, this was a bit like a Salvador Dali!
Lesson 4. Have a plan, mine, I am not the surgeon

Numbing medicine, good. Method of introduction, pain filled, but just for a minute;)
Lesson 5. When they say this will hurt a bit, it will!

Doctor and nurse kept making small talk, helped to pass the time, perhaps not the best time for my responses. I did more of the listening!
Lesson 6. To the medical professionals, "oops" not the most reassuring phrase one could hear in the middle of the procedure! Did get my attention, and spawned a response!

Overall lesson: I know what it feels like to be stung by angry hornets, hit in the face with a bat and it hurts to laugh at the whole experience. Good medical attention + loving wife + time to recover = 1 pretty face, I hope, could be the first time.