Surgery--Again

Fantastic!

GREAT NEWS, ROBERTA!

Couldn't stop thinking about you all day today, and, as soon as I got home, I held my breath and checked this thread.

SO happy for you that the news was good.

Enjoy the good food, enjoy the relief, just enjoy.

The collective let out breaths may start a hurricane!

Puh-leeze, bunny. No more hurricanes. If it weren't for Hurricane Sandy, this whole megilla would probably have been over in a week--maybe two.

To avoid gale-force winds, please everybody, take turns exhaling. Don't breathe out all at once.

excellent, its amazing how stress, once relieved, can free up your body just like removing a tight tether.

You need to walk in thepark and look for signs of spring, Ill bet you will be looking at stuff with an entirely new perspective.

Have a wonderful day Boida, soar high goil, you so deserve your peace, enjoy xxxxxx

Today is a lump day, Izzie. Soaring but no flapping. (I'm a strict lumper.)

FM, My perspective on the world changed almost immediately. No longer tinged in gray. Everything is brighter and clearer.

I've been in limbo. I refuse to think about what I need to do--until tomorrow.

Work will be arriving on Friday. Yesssssssss.

Wishing I knew how Vonny is.

So sweet and kind of you to care, Roberta. I do have a skin cancer, and will have an operation as a matter of some priority - end March or start of April. My own fault - too much sunbathing and never used sunscreen! The surgeon said he wouldn't even do a biopsy, just go straight for it!!! With luck it will be a BCC, basal skin carcinoma, and one operation will, hopefully, get rid of it completely. I say hopefully because, of course, it could be something much nastier. Won't be able to tell until it's done, so the sooner the better. They'll cut away the tumour on the side of my nose and makes a V shaped cut in my cheek, pulling the flap across to graft onto it. It will be under local anaesthetic - less risky, but more scary! I'm to expect a livid red and lumpy scar.

I'm not as brave as you - frankly I'm scared stiff. But it is good that it's been found and that the operation will take place fairly soon. The hard part now will be the waiting, and hoping, and wondering .........

It certainly helps to share it!

Glad your biopsy was clear - you've been through enough already!

YAY!

Hoping that goes well and is nothing nastier Vonny. Best wishes to you.

All right, putting on my wisher for basal cell. ((hugs))

Thanks for coming back and letting us know. I'm a worrier.

Frightening. Yes. Not going to offer any words of wisdom. The waiting in some ways is harder than the actuality. Once you know what you have, you can deal with it.

My father had a tumor removed from his nose area. Not a bad scar. There was no such thing as sun screen when he sat out in the sun.

I'm not brave. (Said this many times. No one believes me.) I'm pragmatic. What is, is. You deal with it. Anticipation is hard. And being scared stiff is what you should be feeling (I think). I'd be concerned if you weren't afraid. When I was growing up, people didn't say the word Cancer. Now it's sayable and treatable.

I'll be thinking about you. If you want to talk, I'm here. We're all here. If you don't, that's OK too. But please let us know how it goes.

Thanks Mismi - thanks Ossobuco - wow, I feel a lightening of the load already - what's the saying? Something about a load shared is a load halved? I guess it's true. Big hugs and thank-you's all round.

Hang in there, vonny. We need you on the language games threads.

Oh it does help - so much, Roberta! And yes, it will help to share. Your words, and the sweet messages from Mismi and Ossobuco have already raised my spirits. So good not to have to pretend to be brave!

I think the surgeon felt that the area the tumour covers is quite large - he said he'd have to take away the surrounding area too, just to be sure he got it all. Hence the warning about the scar. He did say that they would take the V shaped flap of skin from an area of my cheek where the scar would eventually 'fall' (can't remember his exact words) into the natural fold of the cheek. He said an awful lot, but I doubt if I took it all in - still have loads of questions. In summation, he said it would take about a year for the lividity of the scar to fade, and that I'd have to massage lots with oil or moisturiser to stop the 'lumpiness' of the scarred area. The surgical registrar said there is make-up to hide scars - I'll have to find out about that.

On the positive side, it does give me an excuse to buy a new outfit - for my next trip to hospital for my op! And to start looking round for some big floppy hats. Oh yes, and the surgeon said I had good skin! Nice to know - wonder if they meant for cutting into! (Gallows humour!)

I have had pre-cancerous cells removed twice before - once by an operation and once by laser. Long time ago. Thought there might be a connection but surgeon said no - big relief. My biggest mistake was looking up skin cancer on the internet - oops, not a good idea!!! Some horrendous photographs of worst case scenarios. In future I'll stick to A2k!

And I need the language game threads - keeps my mind occupied. Thank you Lustig Andrei.

Welcome to the skin cancer wing of the youthful sun worshipper's club, Vonny. There are a bunch of us around here on A2K. I hope yours will be the more common basal cell type.

Two years ago, almost to the day, I had a quarter-sized basal cell cancer removed from my chin with the MOHS surgical technique. From what you've described, it sounds like you have a good doctor and one who knows what he's talking about.

I had two biopsies on the one on my chin. Each time was told the biopsy probably got it all, only to see it return a few months later. I could have saved myself a lot of angst had I gone directly for the MOHS surgery when it was first suggested rather than waiting for yet another biopsy to fail in getting it all. The MOHS technique got it all in the first attempt, there was no need for seconds.

I can gleefully tell you that I am still skin-cancer free and have graduated from 6-month check ups to one-year check ups. I can still see the scar and missing chunk of chin, but others either are too polite to say or really tell the truth when they say they can't see it. Was it worth it? You betcha. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat and much much sooner.

If you're interested, here are some links that helped me understand what to expect:

http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/mohs-surgery

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mohs-surgery/MY01304

This is a link to a video:
http://www.mohssurgery.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3287

If you want to do so, start a thread for yourself and we'll keep you company and try to ease the angst while waiting for answers.

Thanks for posting that - and yes, Vonny, start a thread if you feel like it (or not if you don't). I had a basal cell ca on my upper lip removed early last year - hard to see now though I did see it for a while, but it was smaller than Butrflynet's (she actually kindly me took me to her dermatologist's, a good dermo practice here) and I think also smaller than yours. My face is quite the mess for other reasons, egads and little fishes, as we used to say. Anyway, the basal cell ca was a surprise - I went in the first place since I thought a black something on the palm of my hand might be a melanoma. Nope, it was and still is a freckle.
Anyway, hang in there, kid, as Roberta might say.

I must admit that when I read your post, and that of Ossobuco, I was almost in tears - of relief! It is strangely comforting to know that one isn't alone in this strange new world of skin cancers. I've had pre-cancerous cells removed - many moons ago - but the skin cancer scares me more. Probably because it is visible!

The links you gave me are excellent - thank you so much. The video is especially informative. I don't know if my surgeon will use the MOHS technique - but even so, he does seem to be following the route of no biopsy, and speedy action, and seems a very competent and mature doctor. I wasn't given any information about skin cancer and when asked by the registrar if I had any questions - well, I couldn't think of a thing to ask. Both you and Ossobuco have helped me enormously. Your stories of your own tussles with cancer are inspiring - thanks again. They've helped me enormously.

I'm relatively new to computers and computing, (three years), and only started to use A2K about two years ago for the crossword puzzling threads, moving over to other threads at end January this year. What a wonderful community of people! Not sure if I'm brave enough yet to start a thread of my own, so if Roberta doesn't object, then I'd love to share hers for just a little while longer? It would certainly help me get through the next few weeks!

Vonny, Be my guest. But I gotta warn you. I've been called the Queen of Kvetch. If your kvetching isn't up to my high standards on this thread, people might not be as responsive.

Come to this thread as often as you want. But I think you should take the plunge. Start a thread. Even if it's not about your health.