Tuesday morning I did not run the boys to school because I had my skin cancer biopsies. I'll get the results sometime next week.
At my last appointment, the dermatologist explained they would be shaving off pieces of four moles to biopsy. I asked Jon to come along for moral support as I knew there would be a long wait period between the time they gave me shots and the time for the biopsy. Having read Dooce's posts about her experience with skin cancer, I decided not to google anything more. She has very explicit before and after pictures of her moles and scars.
What I did not think about was that Jon had not read these posts and seen these pictures, so he didn't know what to expect. For my four suspicious moles, they numbed the area and scraped off the entire mole with a razor. While Jon watched. Obviously he stopped watching after the first one and I owe him a drink for not preparing him. "Taking a small scraping" is misleading. The moles are all gone and I am left with four open gouges, three of which would easily be visible if I were to wear a bikini (which I am not doing after the excessive eating and drinking on vacation).
Three times a day I need to put super-strength antibiotic cream on each site and cover with band-aids until they heal. Considering my experience with hypertrophic scarring, I will most likely have large red raised scars for a few years.
And all of this is to find out if I have skin cancer. At age 35. Just like the audiologist's office, I was the youngest patient at the dermatologist's office.
I'm going to step on soapbox for a minute. I know I keep harping on this point and belaboring it, but it bears repeating: please use some form of sunscreen on your kids. You can be negligent with yourself but your children need protection when they are too small to make decisions for themselves. Don't blow it off saying you didn't wear sunscreen as a kid. The ozone layer is much thinner than when we were children.
If you are concerned about chemicals in sunscreen, do some research to find a physical block. If you are concerned about vitamin D, have your kids drink fortified milk, take a supplement, and talk to your doctor about appropriate sun exposure for your climate and lifestyle (as we have done).
Worst case scenario for me: bad cancer
Middle case scenario for me: easily treatable cancer, I get one person to talk to their doctor about sunscreen for their kids and themselves
Best case scenario for me: no cancer, everyone reading this checks their body for moles and jumps on the skin protection wagon
Off my soapbox, thanks for listening.
Tomorrow I'm doing Phone Photo Friday so get your pictures ready!
21 comments:
I hope it all turns out well for you. We recently experienced the same thing with my 15 year old son. Yes, 15. He had 4 moles removed as well on his back. He never complained and I don't think he understood the seriousness which is ok - mom and dad took that part on. He got good news!!!
I hope you get good results. I'm so glad you're doing this even though it's hard to go through, even for those just watching the procedure.
Have you tried Mederma or any other type of scar cream?
My mother in law had a mole removed this year that was cancerous, thankfully it had not spread so after some treatments and testing at the Mayo Clinic, for now she's clear. We're all on the sunscreen bandwagon, plus once we get to TN, both Ben and I are getting checked out since he's at higher risk w/his mom's history.
praying it's the BEST case scenario!
I just read your comment on my blog about MRSA- YES. Riley got MRSA from/or while in her cranial band (and gave it to her sister). It was crazy- it baffled the pediatrician, cranial Technologies, AND the cranial facial surgeon we went to for the 2nd opinion. NO ONE had heard of this. Leave it to us to baffle the medical field- ha! But thankfully they responded well to the ointment and it went away... AMAZING.
Good luck...I hope you get good news. My dad and 33 year old SIL are both going through the same thing now. I'm waiting until this baby is born, then bringing myself in to start getting checkups. I'm fair, burned multiple times each summer growing up, and have plenty of freckles and moles. It's scary.
My boys always wear sunscreen. The other day, one of my kids didn't want to get out of the car to walk into the grocery store. He said, "Mommy, I don't have on sunscreen! It's not safe!" My husband complained that I was making them nuts about sunscreen, but I couldn't have been more proud!
*Hugs* I'm rooting from the no-worries-but-a-good-reminder outcome.
A dear friend was diagnosed with carcinoma at age 35. He had the mole removed, and there have been no further complications.
Thanks for the reminder about the ozone layer. Friends in Australia have known the dangers for years, but we're pretty removed from the ozone hole in the US, so it's easy to forget.
Oh dear! Count me in on the crossing fingers and praying for the best case scenario! This is a scary thing to think about and experience. Please do let us all know when you get the good news (positive thinking!).
I think I mentioned this before, but my sister has to go in twice a year for mole checks and they typically remove several at a visit. She calls them "Slice and dice" visits. She has scars all over from it, but the good news is that they have caught everything early, and she's just had to have small sections of tissue removed.
But, get this. She's allergic to the adhesives in band aides and to a number of antibiotic creams, so she ends up with allergic reactions at most sites as well as the mole scars. She's pretty much a medical freak.
I never needed sunscreen when I was little, but we don't mess around these days. Sun screen is one of the few products that I can overcome my chemical-phobia for.
I think this is so important that you're saying this. So many people are lax about it. Much of my family gets moles removed all the time, and we still have teenagers who go to the tanning salon. And some family members give me a hard time for putting sunblock on the kids when it's cloudy. But to the kids, it's what we do before we go outside, and I love that it's second nature to them already.
Albert had that done a few years ago... it is a long wait. In his case, one still came back suspicious and he had to have it excised more widely = large scar, but got good news in the end.
Thanks for the reminder about the sunscreen. I HATE HATE HATE sunscreen and I've been good about it at least for the kids this summer, mostly due to your other reminders.
The C word is hard to talk about but I am glad you are and I hope for the best case scenario for you. Your blog friends are all here to support you regardless and thanks to you, I put sunscreen on my kids as part of our morning routine rather than wait until until I *think* they may need it. Being in the desert and going to the river and beach so often, I cannot say they have never gotten pink in certain spots but we do our very very best to avoid it. So I thank you for that.
Thank you so much for the reminder. I admit I can be kind of lax about the sunscreen b/c Lana is so dark-skinned and never burns, like Bill. Even with SPF 50, she gets browner. But I promise to be better about it b/c you are so RIGHT!
Good luck and we will all be crossing our fingers for you that it turns out to be nothing to worry about.
Oh Laura, I am certainly hoping that the moles are completely benign!
You are in my thoughts! Glad you are blogging again-it was a bit boring while you were on vacation!
Praying those moles were just harmless moles. Keep believing what God says and keep yourself thinking positively!
I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I know it has to be a stressful time for you.
Sending good vibes. This can't be easy, but I'm glad you're such a strong, smart lady, with a supportive family, who can handle whatever life throws at her. Even the stuff that's really unfair. I think Pediatricians should teach parents to treat the sun like prescription medication. That's how I think of it. It can do good things for the body when used correctly, in the right doses, at the right times. It can do horrible, damaging things when its not used properly. Our parents may not have known, but we're got no excuse.
Will be sending good wishes and prayers your way for the best case. Thanks for all of your reminders. In the middle of everything else that we do with our kids, it can be hard to always remember sunscreen. So the extra reminders are definitely appreciated. I never burned as a kid, but have had moles removed as well and luckily they were all fine. I have one that started to come back, and I have put off seeing the dermatologist, but thanks to your post, I'm going to call and make the appointment.
I have tears in my eyes. I have been going to the dang tanning bed and I KNOW better. NO MORE. I ALWAYS put sunscreen on the boys, but never myself and it is so scary to think about getting it. I will always from now on. I will definately be praying for you.
Don't worry, you weren't the youngest by any stretch. When I was little (oh, maybe 12), I had a red spot off my arm. At 25 I had some brown spots (nevi) removed from my back, and a few years later, one from my ankle and another from my torso (also in an area not covered by bikini ;-) ) The result of all that was mild dysplasia on one from the last session, so I go back annually to be looked over. Basically, spotty people - and I count us both in that group - need to get checked annually or so because things can turn up and be overlooked. So check the pathology report, and it should say "clear borders" if there's anything abnormal. That means they got every bit of it on the first go.
just a note to say I hope everything comes out ok and to tell you that you aren't the youngest :) I actually saw a dermatologist at 25 who laughed at me for being concerned about a few moles. the next year I had one taken off my back (by another md) which was just dysplastic, but even so. I wanted to call that first doc back and tell her she was an idiot.
sunscreen! oh, and I'm italian and don't burn that easily, so I don't want to hear that either :)
you will get good results... sending vibes :)
You are right on - so don't apologize for getting on your soap box. It's a great reminder. I'll be thinking positive thoughts for you!
I will be anxious for good news here.
I have learned from friends (two of them, at present - with stage 3 melanoma... both right here, local...) that you just can't risk it. And I mean I HATE SUNSCREEN. HATE IT. It makes me break out, I hate the way it feels... Bleck. But I am doing my best to wear it - and we seriously dunk the kids.
I have tried the new Arbonne FC5 face cream with SPF in it and it's doing ok for me. What do you use??
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