Does Your Face Hurt?

Call me Frankenjan....Skin Cancer Update. I know you are all concerned about my latest medical issues, so I thought I'd blog on the family blog to give you the details. I have resisted staying out of the sun for years, as you know. No sun screen, no hat. Well...that is all about to change. I have been dealing with a small mark under my eye for about two years. It was frozen once, but returned as a very small open sore that scabbed over. No biggie. Well, after it returned I had it biopsied. It was indeed cancer. I researched the diagnosis and found out more about Sqamous cell carcinoma. That's what it was.

•Basal cell carcinoma develops from abnormal growth of the cells in the lowest layer of the epidermis and is the most common type of skin cancer.

•Squamous cell carcinoma involves changes in the squamous cells, found in the middle layer of the epidermis.

•Melanoma occurs in the melanocytes (cells that produce pigment) and is less common than squamous or basal cell carcinoma, but more dangerous. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease.

 

So, I had it frozen off once more and it returned. This time I went to another doctor and she sent me to a dermatologist who proceeded to dig around on my face to remove the cancer. I was fine with that as I don't want to die. Day one: You can hardly see the marking under my right eye, but it was cancer. I was on time to my appointment, but waited for one hour to be called. As they checked me in, I had to sign a form agreeing to being charged $50 if I missed an appointment without calling 24 hours in advance. That seemed reasonable. But after waiting for a whole solid hour before getting called to see the doctor, I pulled a Skalicky and made note to ask the nurse if this was the way things always were at this office as I would bring more reading materials...War and Peace might be a good starter. She apologized profusely for my hour wait to see the doctor.  She by the way is a great nurse, not only did she not write "difficult" in my file, she got to the bottom of the delay and promised it wasn't how things were done there and said it would never happen again. Day two: I was scheduled for an appointment in which could last all day as they doctor would remove as much as he thought necessary and test to make sure he got it all. I got in promptly. (!) The nurse got me back for my bad manners and stuck me good with a needle near my eye. It gave new meaning to the phrase: "Quit goofing around or you'll put an eye out." She numbed my face like the professional she was and the doctor proceeded to remove parts of my face. I waited for an hour or so for the results, they didn't get it all, so he took more of my face. At this time, he assumed he got it all and as it was 5 p.m., the nurse put a large white gauze bandage on my face and sent me home. Day three: I returned with the big white gauze and was escorted to my room 5 minutes after my scheduled appointment. The doctor assured me he got it all and the nurse proceeded to poke me again with novacane. The nice young doctor began to push and pull a needed and thread through the damage done the day before. I felt none of this by the way, which is good. Except now, I am in pain and taking Tylenol and anti biotics. I go have the stitches out next week. So, the lesson for you? Wear sun screen and a hat. Also, when you get older, have your spouse or someone you trust check your body for moles or markings. Get checked for this if you suspect something. There you go. Lesson for the day.

 
 

 The new me! Hats rock!