At age 40, I had a basal cell cancer(BCC) removed from behind the top of my ear. By the time I realize it was more than a 'blood blister', it had gone to the skull deep, about an inch laterally and half inch vertically. When excised, surgical margins were reported clear, and no radiation or notable follow up (other than visual inspection) occurred.
At age 48, the area behind the ear started feeling hard/funny, and an odor came from that area, and a few months later it started bleeding. The Mohs surgeon thought he could get it all, but sent me to a Head/Neack surgeon when the tumor kept getting bigger as he went deeper.
The Head/Neck surgeon did not do any PET or CT (told me it wasn't needed), removed a fair portion of tissue surrounding the mastoid (clear pathological margins), and removed a 2cmx2cm surface of the mastoid bone as he suspected bone involvement.
As my bad luck would have it, the Pathology dept LOST the bone sample.
The surgeon said not to worry about it, he's sure he got it all, and did not recommend any radiation or re-excision (which I wanted, having lost my wife to cancer and worshipping explicit clear margins, not assumptions on lost samples).
My question is: Given my history of recurrent, deep cancer that was already starting down at the skull/base level, should I look at another hospital group that would not be as 'optimistic' in the treatment of my recurrent cancer?
-Henry