The Frog Dissected

Guest Blog

Today the Monsoon Frog (MF) had an appointment with the skin doctor.

MF has spent a large part of his life in the tropics and, as those of us who live here know, that can be quite traumatic on the epidermis.

A week ago, during a six monthly skin check, the doctor found several marks that he was not particularly happy about. Some, he burnt off there and then; but the others where scheduled for attention later. He found what he felt were three Basal Cell Carcinoma’s (BCC) on MF’s back and shoulder and a Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) on his nose.

So, today MF went under the knife.

The BCCs were removed by taking ellipse shaped skin sections and then suturing. Pretty ordinary but interesting.

The removal of the SCC, however, was quite fascinating. I asked, and was allowed, to watch. After removing the offending “spot,” the doctor then proceded to cover the hole. This involved cutting another circle of flesh from beside the wound, almost dividing that piece and spinning half of it around to cover the hole. He then used the remaining piece to cover the area he “stole” from. I lost count of the number of sutures, but it looked quite an amazing piece of handiwork when it was finished! The theory is, that, because the skin is so similar it will heal with no colour difference and the nose shape will be almost as it was (minus the cancer!) and with just stitch marks showing, initially.

The whole procedure took around an hour.

The offending bits will be sent to pathology for confirmation of their identity and clearance of successful removal.

Good looks are important for a Frog; you never know when a Princess may happen along and he would need to look his best!

I know you will want to join me in wishing him a speedy recovery and return to the pond!