My journey with skin cancer began quietly. I was in the doctor’s office for a routine appointment, when he noticed a mole. I mentioned I would really like to have it removed. It was on my nose, it was ugly, and it got in the way of some facials. He looked at it and said, it looks a bit like a basal-cell carcinoma. He told his nurse to have me scheduled for the removal and said he would send it out for biopsy–just to be sure. Great, I thought – no big deal. I thought nothing more about it.
It was removed and sent for biopsy a few weeks later. I should note this mole never caused me any problems. It didn’t have a rough texture, it wasn’t tender, and it didn’t bleed or look odd. It was just a simple raised area, that was almost flesh colored. I really wanted it removed for cosmetic purposes, never thinking it would be skin cancer. The biopsy proved it was basal-cell carcinoma, and would need to be surgically removed.
Flash forward to the surgery, which turned out to be much more involved than I anticipated. Basal-cell carcinoma and other skin cancers, are removed by a technique called Mohs Surgery. Mohs surgery is a precise technique used to treat skin cancer. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are progressively removed and examined until only cancer-free tissue remains. My surgery (performed by Dr. Richardson, involved two rounds before the tissue was cancer free. Each round takes approximately 1.5 hours. The final size of the affected area was about the size of a dime – which doesn’t seem so big. However, when you consider it is on the face, that’s kind of a big deal. After the Mohs surgery, I went straight to the hospital where I underwent surgery to repair the affected area. Dr. Anderson of Anderson Plastics took great care to repair the area with precision.
Signs to look for and important facts:
- When an old mole changes (shape, color or texture) or a new mole surfaces in adulthood, you should have it checked. This is especially true on the face, neck and ears, — as these areas are exposed to sun more often.
- If a mole increases in size, crusts over or bleeds, it needs to be checked. The mole I had was a pearly, flesh toned color that was indented in the center. It never bled nor was scaley. It was also slow-growing, so when I was asked how long it had been there, I couldn’t answer that question. When I looked back at photos, I determined it was not present three years ago. It had quietly surfaced and grown slowly in the last three years, so it seemed like it had always been there.
- Most skin cancers are not discovered until after the age of 50, even though the damage may have occurred in childhood.
- Fair-skinned, blond, or red-haired people with blue or green eyes are most at risk.
- Regular daily use of SPF 15 sunscreen can reduce your risk of developing basal-cell and squamos cell carcinoma by about 40 percent, and lower your melanoma risk by 50 percent, according to skincancer.org
I hope this information is helpful. I want to share what my journey looked like, so others will know the importance of getting your moles checked – especially if you have new moles. Even if they aren’t causing any problems, you should have them looked at.
Wearing sunscreen is super important — because prevention is always better than treatment. I plan to incorporate body lotion with sunscreen into my daily regimen now. I’ve link a few good ones here.
PS: When I am further along in my treatment, I will update this post with photos of the progress.
PSS: This post was not sponsored and I was not compensated in any way. Thank goodness for health insurance! 😉
Photos by Jessica S. Irvin
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