Mohs surgery is a technique to remove skin-cancer cells. Like many in my generation, a suntan was a priority for me, and now I am paying the price. My new dermatologist found several suspicious spots on my face, and I just had the first, and hopefully the only, malignant one removed. There is a 99% cure rate with this surgery so I can be optimistic.

A couple of years ago, I had a similar procedure, and it was easy. This one, on the side of my nose, was more complicated, and so I have a black eye and a face that looks like it’s been to war. I can’t bend over, pick up anything weighing more than ten pounds, blow my nose, and, worst of all, I can’t exercise for a week.

In our retirement community, people know Mohs surgery. Upon seeing a large bandage on my face, people greet me knowingly with...

“Been to the dermatologist?”