160. Hole in the Face Cancer (1)
160. It was 8:30 a.m. In an hour, Dr. Eduard was going to inject Lidocaine, a painkiller, into Brad's right cheek right next to his nose. Five weeks ago, Dr. Marina had injected Lidocaine into the same place in order to get a biopsy. She had cut out a section of a puffy, white circle with a nearly dime‐size diameter. The subsequent lab report indicated basal cell carcinoma. Five years ago and two years ago, two different dermatologists had told Brad that the puffy circle was just a "fat deposit." Brad was worried. He'd read that such cancer was rarely fatal but often disfiguring. Had the cancer had time to grow into his cheekbone? Dr. Marina had said the "Mohs" surgery might last all day. Operating on several patients today, Dr. Eduard would cut, examine each specimen microscopically, and cut again until he'd removed all the cancerous tissue from each patient. 8.7
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