Surgery--Again

Have a good lump day! Must add that to my NY Dictionary!!!

Had my annual check up with my dermatologist today. First thing she said when she took a look at my face was "I see you've got another basal cell going."

Luckily, the other 3 spots I was concerned about were nothing. She removed the basal cell with her cauterizer thingy and I get to wait a week for the biopsy. She thinks she got it all, but that's what she said last time and I ended up needing the Mohs surgery.

It gets much easier to deal with the second time around now that I know what to expect and know how common these are. Guess I need to make even more of an effort to stay out of the sun from now on.

Okay, now that that is posted, how ya doing, Roberta?

Hang in, kiddo..

I hope it is easily removed and that you won't need to undergo Mohs surgery again. Good luck!

Why don't they tell us about these things earlier? My doctor says that if I look around me in any shopping mall, I'll see countless people walking round with scars on their faces, neck, and hands, where skin cancers have been removed. I'd never heard of BCC's or Squamous Cell Carcinomas, until I was actually diagnosed with one. And I thought malignant melanomas were very rare - and only affected people with fair skins in hot climates.

There is a remarkable lack of information on this subject in the UK - and just looking stuff up on the internet is often confusing. I learnt more from A2K members in a week than I'd done in a lifetime. Still hugely grateful for that!

We've got a free preventive medical checkup at the dermatologist every year.

vonny, Lump day is not a New York expression. It's a Roberta expression.

Butrflynet, Phooey. Sorry to hear this. My hoper is already in gear for a good outcome. Don't know how many of those my father had. Double phooey. Please let us know the results.

How am I doing? I had to stop taking one of my asthma meds. Can't afford the co-pay. I'm feeling it. Rescheduled two tests at the hospital today. It was supposed to pour. I didn't want to get stuck not being able to get home again.

Worried sick (literally) about money.

Aren't you glad you asked?

Roberta, have you heard anything about the arm x-ray? Did it turn up anything?

And, yes I am glad I asked. I think of you as my internet Aunt Roberta. You're family and I think about you often, and worry.

How much is your co-pay? Maybe some of us can chip in a buck or two.

My spot currently looks like someone put a lit cigarette out on my upper lip. Luckily, it doesn't feel that way. The look of it and the drainage is more bothersome. I have a choice of not wearing a bandage and displaying the yuckiness of it, or wearing one of those small round ones and looking like I have a huge polka dot in the middle of my face.

I went with the yuckiness while at home and will spare others with a bandage if I have to go anywhere. Hopefully it will soon crust over and stop draining.

I'm not worried about it, if it were left to me, I'd have postponed the removal for several years like I did the first one. Luckily, my dermatologist has gotten wise to this and schedules 6-month follow-ups to keep me in check.

Vonny, if you're interested in learning more about skin cancers and haven't had your fill of it yet with your own experience, I can give you some more links that I found helpful. Here in New Mexico, it is rare to find people who have lived here awhile without any skin cancers. The sun gets intense here.

Roberta, you ARE New York! For ever more, if I think of New York, I'll picture you with that little goat in Bronx Zoo!

You directed me to some great sites when I first spoke of my cancer. They were enormously helpful, thank you! It helped prepare me for the operation - I think one of them was the Mayo Clinic? Really informative. What I'm keen to find out now is just what is involved in cosmetic surgery after the removal of a tumour - there's a good chance I'll have to have it at the end of this year/commencement of next, and I don't really know what is involved. My surgeon just said he'd make a few incisions ...... ouch ... to flatten out the slight lumpiness of the graft!

I wasn't allowed a dressing on my wound at all - still find that somewhat odd. I had massive bruising, a black eye, a couple of dozen stitches on my nose and on my cheek, and looked like someone made up for a part in a Frankenstein film - didn't stop me going out though!

I'm glad you have such a good dermatologist, who's making sure you behave ( ) and don't postpone the removal of suspect BCCs - plus seeing you six-monthly. That really is excellent. I'll probably go on seeing my surgeon for check-ups for a while longer, but once I'm officially discharged from the hospital care, then it will be up to me to report any dodgy marks/spots to my GP.

Sorry to,hear money has got even harder.

Me too, Robbie.
Money fear can be nausea making.

Haven't heard a word about the X-ray. A sign that it may have turned up nothing. Quien sabe? I'm your internet aunt? That makes me smile big time.



vonny, This warms the cockles of my heart. And trust me. They needed warming.

Debbele, I'm glad to see you.

osso, True. The loss of appetite is a good thing. Don't gotta buy a lot of food.

(((((((((((Boida)))))))))) - love you goil, hoping that everything will get easier for you... hugging you from across the poind, BIG HUGS with heart xxxxxxxxxx

Hugging you back, Iz. Not too hard. I don't wanna squoosh ya.

I received a copy of my surgeon's letter to my doctor yesterday - almost wish I hadn't! It says that the BCC was excised from my nose and the defect reconstructed with a nasolabial flap which has pin cushioned, and, that if it hasn't improved in a few more months, they'll perform scar revision with multiple z-plasties. I looked it up - bad idea! Sounds as bad as the original operation - getting awfully fed up with all this. I know I should be grateful, but ....

Aarrggghhhh.o hope it gets better and that isn't needed.

I have a bad feeling that my surgeon will want to do it. He seems to be a perfectionist. But do I really care? At the beginning of this year, the answer would have been yes - I was being vain and picky - but now ... the cancer's gone, a lot of the scar on the cheek is hidden - so I have a bit of puffiness on one side of my nose, not the end of the world!

Hmmm. More detail than he told you. I hope the pin cushion (new medical word to me) improves.