I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on December 14, 2014 by my dermatologists and they recommended I go to Dr. Ali Hendi in Chevy Chase, MD for my Mohs Surgery.
When I called to make my appointment, Alexa in scheduling was very patient and kind with me and answered every question I had. It hadn't sunk in that at age 32 I had already developed skin cancer so my mind was racing and I was probably babbling off a million questions and she was so wonderful to work with. I felt at ease with all of Dr. Hendi's staff members because believe me, I called back at least four or five times and asked other questions that popped into my head. I even called a few days before to confirm my appointment and spoke to Wanda who again helped ease all of my anxiety and confirmed my insurance had accepted the surgery. I know skin cancer is fairly common, and I totally deserved it for tanning and living in Hawaii in my youth sans sun screen, but damn, it's scary enough to deal with so I was spazzing out a bit.
The day of my surgery, I took the metro to Dr. Hendi's office, as it was located right off of the Friendship Heights metro station. I was told by my dermatologist that I needed to spend upwards to eight hours for the surgery so I brought slippers to change into, comfy pants, books, ipad, food, etc to ease my boredom. When I arrived, all of these items weren't really necessary because his office staff provides all the comforts you need. There are work stations, wifi (strong enough to stream netflex [POW!]), cookies, water, tea, decaf... it's very comfortable. I checked in at 8:30 for my 8:45am appointment. The forms are online so you can prepare them ahead of time. My co-pay with BCBS Federal PPO (Basic) was $335 which was consistent with my explanation of benefits and also my conversations with the insurance reps.
Many others checked in, about 3-5, for Mohs surgery. They went ahead of me, which is fine, as in speaking with them later, had much more advanced skin cancer than me and there for much longer. I was seen by Dr. Hendi at about 9:30am, and he was equally as awesome as his other staff. He isn't chatty, but he is compassionate. My tech was Marissa and she took the conversation down a notch, and we chatted about ugly bridesmaid gowns just to break the tension. Dr. Hendi numbed my face (right cheek) and the biopsy/cut out took about 5 minutes, to include the pressure bandage application.
I sat back in the waiting room, fired up netflix, and watched a movie. An hour later, Marissa came back to tell me they got all the cancer out in one dig and it was time to sew me up. Your closure scar will need to be much larger than your biopsy/cancer dig out as you cannot close a circle. This was actually the longest part of my day there. Marissa numbed me up, which hurt like hell, but what could you do. I recommend you wear your glasses instead of contacts as my eye got swollen due to the injections. Your face is small so your face doesn't have much room to swell. The closures, including numbing, sewing, and bandage took about 45 minutes. I then waited in the waiting room for my husband as I had concluded my visit there much earlier than anticipated. Dr. Hendi runs a very organized medical office! It is very efficient. The staff was nice while I waited and didn't rush me out.
My follow up was a week later for my flat bandage to come out. Again, super nice folks to work with. Dr. Hendi and I cracked jokes about how terrible our eye doctor was. A week after that, I took off my flat bandages and saw my battle scar. It looked awful (that was on 1/28) and today is 2/4 and my scar is healing nicely. Dr. Hendi provides very informative wound care and instructions to include scar tissue prevention. And while I haven't had to go back, I know that if I do have a question, his office will be there to assist me in whatever I need. I will post photos shortly to show my skin cancer scar fading it. Dr. Hendi did a wonderful job, I am certain it will heal with little to no scaring.
I had such a great experience here, I cannot recommend this office enough. I believe his office does routine dermatology care, but they only focus on medical dermatology such as Mohs. No botox or fillers here.
Thank you to Dr. Hendi's and his staff for being the greatest doctors of all time, the best in the Virginia, DC, and Maryland area. I really had a great experience and you made getting skin cancer a stress free time in my life. Thank you!!! read more