New to forum. Interesting. I have had 10 or 11 MOHS surgeries alone and also used carac 4 or 5 times over large areas. Each time you use it on the same area it is easier. Much easier. In other words, you should use this treatment for the rest of your life on a sked you discuss with your doctor. I do it once a year, however, the number of days you use it will/could vary.
10 or 11 MOHS is not by any means a lot in the world of skin cancer.
I just want to say that you must remember to get after all the parts of your body exposed to sun--not just one area. If your forehead is in bad shape, I do not think the rest of the face, ears, neck, chest, arms, shins had any less exposure.
I have used it on all those areas. The first time I used it on my arms, dozens and dozens of scabs formed. The fourth time I used it on my arms, almost nothing. I could put carac on for 8 wks now and I bet it would only get a little red. Similar with my face but the face is more sensitive than the arms of course. I also push the creme about a inch up into the hairline. You will be surprised.
Do not forget the shins. That is a bad place for skin cancer. I was raised in Hawaii and California, sailed across the Pacific a few times, so had lots of sun damage.
It is my opinion that while carac does a good job of getting pre cancer cells and maybe a few superficial basils, it does not get existing cancer so do not be lulled into any sense that this is it. You need to go in twice a year, get an aggressive dermy to do the biopsies--based on my long history, I go in every 3 months. I do not care what it costs, it is less than MOHS and plastic reconstructive surgery. I should know.
A quick check of past posts reflected headaches, etc. I had this reaction also. Normal I think. Also felt tired but who knows why. The issue of scars, especially on the cheekbones will scare you a bit. I had pretty deep scars when the scabs fell off. The scars went away after 6 months. No big deal. I did not think they would go away or the brown spots, but they did and my face looks a lot better.
My main point is not carac per se, but if you are using this, your doctor had a reason to put you on it. Do not think your skin cancer is gone, skin cancers can be well under the skin anyway and pop to the surface years later, which is why MOHS helps to trace the track of these cancers. Be aggressive, see your doctor at least twice a year, get the biopsies and not hope they are nothing. Carac I think is a good step, but it will not make up for existing problems that may be there. You just can't get rid of skin cancer like that. I wish it was that easy and believe me, I really burned my ears off with carac and it did not do anything for existing cancer and I lost the top ridge of my ear. Carac just can't burn down enough to get all of the cancer out of there. Impossible. It can keep many pre cancers from becoming cancer and wish I had this creme many years ago. Might have saved me a lot of trouble.
Stay on top of this and do not think for a moment that skin cancer is not a tricky devil, it is. Carac is part of the solution, but only part. A well thought out program of screening with your doctor is the other part, finding a good MOHS surgeon that you are comfortable with, discuss what the possible outcomes of MOHS surgery might be and how you are going to deal with it. Remember, MOHS is only for the face, not the rest of the body like chest, arms, legs, etc. and there is no way any doctor can tell you how many slices he/she is going to take off since they just will not know until they start the pathology of the removed tissue.
Hope this helped in some small way to help others not make the mistakes I made over my life with my skin--if it scared anyone, well, better to find out now. This is why I do not care at all what I look like during the carac process--I am long past that and just glad it is available. I also do not care about itching, pain, etc. Small price to pay and once you do it, the next time around will be no big deal.
For general information, I have used carac for as little as 10 days and as much as 4 weeks. Depends on the reaction and the advice of your doctor. I have also found every doctor has a different way of using carac and I think that variance has to do with your history and the results of other patients that your particular doctor has studied. No two dermatogists have told me the same thing and since I move around a lot due to work, I have seen a few. I do modify what they say with what has worked for me in the past which is a minimum of 2 weeks, better to go longer probably if you can do it. If you can't make it past 3 weeks, I think go in and see the doctor and try again in 6 months or so. It does get much easier with future applications. Nothing to be worried about but stay in contact with your doctor.
Last thing, I take photos of my reactions, download them onto photopaper and take them in. Often, the big scabs have fallen off and started to heal. I like to show the doctor the bad areas so he can really check that out in case there is a possiblility of a biospsy required for that area. Does not hurt to document what is going on and share that with the doctor. The doctor will appreciate it and it helps in the planning of your situation.