New to site

SharonF

Hello everyone,

I am amazed that I found this discussion board, I never knew it was here. I have been battling skin cancer for years. I can spot a basil cell on my body a mile away. I also have been diagnosed with stage one melanoma. I have so many scars that I have lost count. I will be going back again soon to my doctor and am sure that I have two more spots on my face that will be removed. There are days when I just cry. My friends and family have been great. The staff at the University of Michigan Cancer Center do a wonderful job. But sometimes that darn vanity that women have takes over and I wonder if I can fight anymore. The ones that bother me the most are the ones on my face, I have the hardest time with those. And now two more, really!

I have many moles and not a one of them is like the other. So go figure. I have had spots removed that have been a combination of basil cell. squamous cell and akinetic. It is running rampant on my body, but I am one of the lucky ones. I have support and understanding even when I lose it out of the blue and now I have a place to post my thoughts and concerns to share with those that are in the same place I am.

Sharon

beacon

welcome to the site
welcome to the site sharon!

i am , i suppose, fortunate to only be on my third superficial basal cell carcinoma,so far...
i got my first on my shoulder at 31 yrs of age, and my second less than a yr ago, with the third popping up in the last few weeks...so thats 3 appeared in 6 yrs! so i now know, that i will be forever finding something new to show to the doctor.
i have just moved to a new country (wales) and they obviously don't see alot of skin cancer here, so the doctor i saw today said he thinks my skin looks fine in the area i showed him, yet he doesn't know much about skin cancer so wants me to see the dermatology dept.
i KNOWit is an basal cell carcinoma, its exactly how the others stated, yet even the doctor in london that saw my first, that had been there alot longer, thought that one was fine too..i think they are expecting to see something really knarly or something, not a pinkish, silvery little patch, but i would bet my life that it will biopsy as exactly what i said it is.
my skin cancer doc in sydney was experienced enough to know an early superficial bcc ,based on my history and its presentation, and we both agreed to treat without a biospy, avoiding a further scar, and he convinced me to try burning it off with the dry ice spray, nitrous something or other.
he did a light spray, and then i came back month later and we repeated the process. this got rid of the cancer, without scarring.
after the initial blister had scabbed and healed over, i was left with a pink patch, that faded back t normal over 6 months, so i was happy with the outcome.
unfortunately here, the nhs doctors will not just dy ice it without first knowing what it is...
i can't be bothered doing all of that, i know it is bcc and just want to get rid of it and look for the next one!
having a biopsy is a pain as it leaves a scar etc and wastes time.
it seems unless the cancer looks ugly ,the doctors here don't really think theres a problem.
ofcourse, i understand that the skin cancer i have had so far a just a nuisance and not dangerous at all, but there is no point waiting till it gets huge before you treat it, it is far better i think, to have switched on patients that jump on it when its tiny, and deals with it swiftly...
maybe by the time i get to my tenth self diagnosed bcc ,they will believe me...
and ofcourse, each time I HAVE CORRECTLY DIAGNOSED IT and told the doctor what i suspected, if i had left it up to the 2 uk doctors i had seen, i would still be walking round with those ones on mt, but the australian doctors have been able to identify them by sight each time correctly...

anyway, i am no where near in the position you have been in, but i know how disappointed i feel, that i now look at my skin as a potential problem, and after seeing my aunties face be constantly biopsied and treated, i fear that in the future, as i am vain enough to want to preserve what looks i have...

my skin cancer soc in australia put me onto a skin care system called ALLMEDIC (google it) which has glycolic acid in it, and reduces the amount of precancerous lesions etc on the skin, even in one month. it has the added benefit of making the rest of your skin look really good too!
i no longer use it, because of cost, but i buy glycolic acid and do weekly peels on my back, decollatage and neck/face instead, as it is even better than using the 15% allmedic creme...
thje skin cancer do sai this would be very beneficial to reducing sundamaged cells, and would reduce the amount of bcc that i will possibly get...also gets rid of actinic keratosis too...so beneficial to help with squamous cell carcinoma...

on top of that, my skin looks really smooth, and fabulous ,as a result of regulary using it:)

its so annoying that i have never sunbaked etc, and have this, yet there are people running around with skin like leather that never get anything!!!
i really understand feeling protective and paranoid about the face though, and most people probably feel the same!

beacon

welcome to the site
double post

beacon

welcome to the site
double post