Should my father have Basel cell carcinonmas surgery?

My dad went through what we all came to know was a cruel skin cancer surgery. He has in his 80’s with congestive heart failure and a dermatologist referred him to a plastic surgeon to do a removal of skin cancer on his head. He healed very slowly and painfully, it was six months before he felt normal again. The scars were awful. The doctor was later told we all regretted it and he said it wasn’t a mistake, the cancer could have killed dad. My dad asked how long that would have taken, the doctor replied “at least 20 years” Wow. Be careful on this and get other opinions

Are these cancer spots that have been neglected for years and are extremely advanced? Because my experience with basal cell carcinoma is that it is slow growing and usually easily treated, generally with local anaesthesia and mohs surgery. Unless there is a compelling reason for haste I would ask that they delay the surgery until his health is stabilized.

When anesthesia is going to be used, I would be very leary. Usually, doctors need a clearance from the person's cardiologist to do any surgery. I would say lung doctor too in this situation. So, if those 2 doctor's say no, then you don't need to worry. They made the decision.