All the best for your melanoma surgery, @Cath62 .... you will certainly be incapacitated by it for a while .. but it is amazing how quickly they get you back on your feet again. A buddy had a skin graft that just 'wouldn't take' on the top of his foot (another very 'shallow skin' area .... and it just wouldn't heal even after numerous hospital interventions & use of a steam machine ... So he visited us at the beach & would get a fresh tub of clean sea water every day, & soaked his foot in it .... and the surgery site slowly 'closed up' and healed! AMAZING
take care xx