once i have had BCC, does it mean they will just keep popping up again, every few years?

beacon said:

here is some info on
here is some info on photodynamic therapy.
http://www.skincancercollege.com/Home/Patient_info/Treatment_/PDT.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photodynamic_therapy

unfortunately i read on the skin cancer college website that medicare in australia don't cover photodynamic therapy, and it is very expensive privately, which makes me very cross!
i don't drink or smoke,and am a healthy weight etc so don't cost the system any mneyv for lifestyle choices yet have skin cancer thru no fault of my own, yet i will either have to pay for my treatment myself, or end up with multiple scars over my life time instead!
not fair!

beacon said:

i went to the skin cancer
i went to the skin cancer doctor today.

he agreed that the spot is dodgy, and is most likely another bcc, but pointed out that until confirmed by a biopsy,there is always a chance it could be scc, so you can't tell by looking, but we thinks its just another bcc.
i have to choose to remove it by surgery, which leaves a small scar on a visible spot, or i can use the photodynamic therapy, at $1200 for the treatment, and it has a success rate of 90% over 5 years...my other bcc disappeared completey without scarring and has not come back so i think, i would prefer pdt, first and then removal via excision if it came back.
i also have a little flat white,silvery patch that scales slightly if i scrtch it, which i have been watching, and he said it could be actinic keratosis, precursor to scc, and there are a few other patches i have not noticed in my close scrutiny, that he said may be the very early beginning of more her and there on my upper back
the doctor suggested i excise it, which i am considering, and using the photodynamic therapy to treat my whole upper back, and my face.

THIS IS THE EXCITING BIT ABOUT PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY!
although my face apparently looks good for my age, compared to many, my skin is quite sundamaged in spots...i saw it a few years ago when i was shown it under a special lamp that show it up, so i know i have damage, although the evidence hasn't popped up via skin cancers or wrinkles yet on my face.
i KNOW my shoulder, upper back is sundamaged too.
the exciting thing is, that i can treat the sundamage on large areas such as the face nd upper back, BEFORE it has a chance to turn in to more, thus limiting the potential amount of lesions that will pop up in the future.
as the photodynamic therapy kills only damaged cells and not healthy cells, it can get tiny little things not yet visible to the eye and will treat precancerous or tiny cancerous things not yet seen.
the added benefit is it also stimulates collagen production, so on my face the other benefits are that my skin will look better!

my aunty has all sorts of horrendous things being cut out of her nose ,face ,arms, bak etc, as she used to slather herself in oil and sunbake.even though i have never one that, i still have skin cancers popping up 30 YEARS earlier than she has!
if i have the pdt on my face and upper back, which are the most likely areas for lesions to keep showing up, it at least will deal with alot of the damage early.
i guess i'm not entirely explaining it well, but you can do some googling for the more scientific facts etc...
i wonder whether it would benefit others to try this too?

it will cost $1000 for the face and approx $1200 for the upper back.
if i excise the known bcc, to save spending $1200 on treting just that one, then i could treat the whole upper back preventively instead and also deal with the other few early things showing up on my shoulder, so i think that would be better use of the money.
treating the actual cancer, needs two sessions whereas the preventative treatment only one, which is why its so expensive for the one spot.

i also have an area the size of a grain of sushi rice on my nose that is weird.the actual skin surface looks normal, but the skin is thickened, and has been for a while now, which i was worried about, and he thinks its might be early changes in the skin, that might take years to show up on the surface, so hopefully that is dealt with if i treat the face too..
i just don't want to end up having stuff cut out all over the place.
a number of my 30 something friends in Queensland had multiple scars all over from having melanoma in situ taken out etc... the sun is soooo bad in australia!
at least they are on the ball with skin cancer diagnoses though..

anyway, i won't be able to afford to do the photodynamic therapy for another two months, but i will let you know what the result is once i have, regarding the effectivenss of getting all the precancer bit off!

can someone please let me know what kind of scar i could expect if he excises a 1cm lesion from the middle of my back?
would it end up just a tiny thin line you can't notice?

sorry, i know i sound very vain...if i know what to expect then i can go ahead knowing what the deal is, rather than wishing i hadn't after the fact.

the doctor said he would always choose to excise anything if it was his skin, because IF a bcc come back it can come back more aggressively, but i would certainly not muck around if it was something dangerous,i think its just another superficial bcc though...

LIVEAGAIN, didn't you have a bcc that spread?
i might go an reread some posts...maybe i'm being silly not just getting it excised, as i would have to wait another two months to treat this with pdt, financially, and i think its been there for at least 6 now,but it just looks like nothing much ,so i thought i had time to wait...