A spot she didn't know was there
During a regular skin cancer check-up, the dermatologist found a spot on Pia's scalp. Pia didn't know there was anything on her scalp at all, as there were no sores or other signs of skin cancer.
Pia lives in Sweden, but knew about Skin Cancer Clinic in Denmark because her father was treated with Mohs surgery at the clinic in Copenhagen several years ago. Pia is glad that she knew about the possibility of Mohs surgery in Denmark, because in Sweden, only Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg treats patients with Mohs surgery.
Although there is free choice of hospital in Sweden, Sahlgrenska cannot take all the patients who need Mohs surgery. This means there is no equal access to the treatment across Sweden. Unfortunately, this is also the case in Denmark and Norway, where Mohs surgery is only offered in some places. Pia believes that something should be done about this: Mohs surgery should be offered as a treatment in the public sector throughout the Nordic region.
Larger than expected
Pia chose to go to Denmark for treatment, and unfortunately, the doctor at Skin Cancer Clinic discovered that the area of basal cell carcinoma was much larger than the dermatologist in Sweden had thought. Pia went through five rounds of Mohs surgery on the same day before the tissue was clear and the basal cell carcinoma was gone – a circle of three centimetres was removed. Skin from the scalp was moved to cover the wound, so that hair can grow again where the skin cancer had been.
If the skin cancer had been removed with standard surgery, the area to be operated on would have been at least twice as large, and it would have been difficult to move enough skin with hair growth to cover the wound.
Pia is very happy that she knew about Skin Cancer Clinic, so that she could be treated quickly and professionally with Mohs surgery. She hopes that in the future all skin cancer patients will be offered treatment with Mohs surgery. Pia says:
“I think the doctors at Skin Cancer Clinic have done a fantastic job. I am so happy that all the skin cancer was removed in one operation with Mohs surgery. If I had been treated with standard surgery, I would have ended up with a large bald area on my head.”
