I have been diagnosed with cancer in my right eyelid. The dermatologist who removed the lesion from my eyelid (that is how they found I have skin cancer in my eyelid) has referred me to Dr. Michael Sorace who has offices in San Antonio and New Braunfels to remove the cancerous portions of my eyelid.

Has anyone here ever heard of or been treated by Dr. Sorace?

I have never referred to him but he is a Mohs surgeon which is key. The question is would a Plastic eye specialist like Dr. Debacker be better given location of lesion. Just thoughts. . I use Ryan O'quinn as my Mohs surgeon but he is in the med center where I practice medicine.

Dr. DeBacker is the one who brought Dr. Sorace in to remove the eyelid. Dr. DeBacker will then do the repair work.

Thanks for answering. I have read about the Mohs procedure and that certainly is better than the old way.

Chris DeBacker is great, if you are in New Braunfels and prefer someone closer than I'd see Dr. David Gay

In reply to agdoc2001 I have liked Dr. DeBacker. The real test will be when he repairs/replaces my eyelid.

Thanks for the reply.

Update on Eyelid cancer.

The Drs have this process down to an art. Last Thursday Dr. Sorace removed the cancerous portion of my eyelid using the Mohs procedure. He removed some of the lid and biopsied it while I waited in the waiting area. I was called back a second and a third time until my margins showed no cancerous cells.

He placed a large opaque lens on my eye to insure that no damage was done to my eyeball. This lens, which was more like cardboard, stayed in the whole time. This really irritated my eye. The ONLY time I felt any pain was the second time I went back. That nurse went a little deep into my eyelid with the shot to deaden it and I yelped like a little puppy. Each time I went back they gave me another shot in my eyelid to deaden it some more. My eye was really irritated that night because most on the cancer cells he removed were underneath my eyelid. Dr. told me to keep my eye closed the rest of the day and night. Impossible.

The next morning I had my eyelid repaired by Dr. DeBacker. Both Drs. were nice guys and followed up with me within 24 hours. I was under general anesthesia for the repair work. Sorace had cut out a square from the bottom of my eyelid up into the middle of my lid so it was an easy fix for DeBacker. I still have a string going through my upper lid that is stitched to my eyebrow. This will hold the lid in place for it to heal, otherwise the lid would droop apparently. Next Wednesday I get that stitch out as well as the stitches in my eyelid that were used to bring my eyelid back together. I never saw my eye after the Thursday work because it was bandaged when we left but my wife came back to get instructions. When she walked in my eyes were shut but she could still see my right eyeball because of the hole in the lid. Sort of freaked her out.

Not a process I want to go through again but really not bad either. No pain just a very irritated and tender eye. Was impressed with both Drs. Eye is still swollen but hopefully by next Wednesday when I get stitches removed it will be more normal. We then fly out to Vegas for 4 nights! Will be good to get away.

Just this morning I talked to a friend in the scientific field and was telling her about this. She attributes eyelid cancer to wearing contacts for decades. Her theory is something had to be introduced to the lid for there to be cancer there, especially cancer under the eyelid. The solutions, in her opinion, were the cause. In the last week I have talked to 2 other friends who have had eyelid cancer. Both of them wore contacts for decades, as did I. Interesting.

Thanks for the report and what great news! Interesting about the longevity of the solutions/contact causing cancer. Here's to lots of 21's!

And these Drs. are making a killing. As they should be. Sorace, on Thursday mornings, all he does is remove skin cancers from the face. He has 5 exam rooms and all 5 had people in them and he went from room to room doing whatever needed to be done, There was one nurse assigned to each exam room and another nurse who followed him from room to room, I assume telling him the patients' name and what part of the face he was working on.

Then on Friday DeBacker was doing repair work on nothing but faces. I think there were 2 other people getting their eyelids repaired.

In reply to agdoc2001 I'm addressing this to you since you are a Dr but anyone else can chime in too.

I talked to a friend of mine today who is a chemist. I told her about the cancer in my eyelid. She asked whether I had ever worn contacts and I did for decades. She then said that the people who she knows with skin cancer in their eyelid had all worn contacts for years.

I called the 2 people who I know who have had this same problem and they too wore contacts for decades. The chemist said something had to introduce the cancer into my eyelid, especially underneath my eyelid where most of the cancer cells were found. The chemist opined that the solutions we used for our contacts in the 1970 through the 1990 could be the problem.

What is your thought on this?

In reply to SW AG80

SW AG80 said:

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The chemist opined that the solutions we used for our contacts in the 1970 through the 1990 could be the problem.

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I started on contacts in about 1995. Around 2016, due to an viral infection in my eye, I went to wearing one contact unless I'm out playing golf or doing things where I want to see really well at distance. Then I need cheaters for anything close up. Good to hear you are better and that there are good options for this in case some of this holds merit. Don't want to **** with the ojos.

In reply to SW AG80 Soft or gas permeable?

38 and been wearing soft since since I was 13 or so.

Curious for my mom she has worn gas permeable beginning in the 80s maybe.