“You have skin cancer” said the voice over the phone. “Is it life threatening?” was my first reaction. “Not at all” the nurse assured me. “So now what?” I inquired as the C word started reverberating through my consciousness. She told me I will have to undergo a surgical procedure to remove the cancer cells. I have not had cancer before. But I have family members and friends who have. Some are still surviving, some, unfortunately, did not survive. So, I started looking for information on skin cancer. As I was reading about the different kinds of skin cancer, I was trying to remember what the nurse told me about the type of cancer I have. But I couldn’t remember. All I remembered was that she said it is not life threatening. So, I thought it must be either Basal cell or Squamous cell carcinoma.
A few weeks earlier, I had a skin growth on my head above my forehead that kept growing in size over a few weeks. I decided to call a dermatologist so it can be checked out. The Dermatologist removed it and sent it to the lab for analysis. He said that he didn’t like the way it looked and asked me if I am careful when I am outside in the Sun and whether I put on sun protection. The only time I put on sun screen is when I am at a beach or at a swimming pool with the kids. And those times are not that frequent any way. At first, I thought, wait a minute, I usually don’t spend that much time in the Sun. I certainly am not a tanning enthusiast. The only extended time in the Sun that I could think of was the time I spend tending to my vegetable garden or mowing the lawn. Later, I started remembering how for years I was taking walks during lunch time around the office. Lunch time! That is the time of day when the ultraviolet rays from the Sun are at their peak! That must be the worst time to walk outside with no Sunscreen protection like I was doing. It just did not occur to me that I was doing something completely unhealthy for my skin.
Well the lab results were positive. Thus, the phone call I mention above. I had to go back to the Dermatologist office for a procedure called Mohs surgery where the doctor removes the skin growth layer by layer. Each time a layer of skin is removed it’s examined under the microscope. This skin layer removal continues until no cancer cells remain. In my case, the doctor was satisfied that he got all the cancer cells with the first skin layer he removed. Once they were done, they stitched me up. I ended up with an area of about two inches of stitched skin above my forehead. I was told to change the wound treatment at least once a day and apply Vaseline to the wounded area. I did that for about 2 weeks. Then I went back so they could remove the stitches.
The scar was sizable. One inch across and one inch vertical. Vanity needs to take second place to health at this point. However, the scar tissue started fading a little bit over the following few weeks and it wasn’t as pronounced as before. Albeit there is still a noticeable scar over my forehead. So, needless to say, the cancer, the surgery, stitches, and scars put me in a kind of freak-out mode about my exposure to the Sun. However, I didn’t even know what is the best way to protect myself from getting more episodes of this cancer or even more dangerous types of skin cancer like Melanoma. I was told by my dermatologist to apply Sunscreen before going out in the Sun. Other than sunscreen, what else can I do? Hats? Vitamins? Nutrition? Clothing with SPF protection?… I started exploring all these methods of protection and will write about what I learned in future blogs.
By John Bet-Qasha
Chicago, USA