# Whee, skin cancer



## saucywench (Oct 4, 2007)

I was just called with the results of the biopsy of the "mole" under my eye that I had removed on Tuesday: basal cell skin carcinoma.

I quit smoking on Saturday morning and I'm really craving a cigarette right now. I know the urge will pass...I'm just sayin'.


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## SamanthaNY (Oct 4, 2007)

*hug* 

Bcc's are normally easily treated... I'm so glad you got checked! And I'm glad you quit smoking - proud of you, Sauce. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help (I recommend shoe shopping).


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## jamie (Oct 4, 2007)

Thank goodness that you got it checked Saucy. Try to resist the cigarette.  I don't know how they treat situations like that, but I hope it is something simple and easy and quick. I really am thankful they caught it for you. Take care of yourself.


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## Risible (Oct 4, 2007)

When it rains, it pours, huh?






Sorry to hear about the BCC! Of course, it could have been worse, but BCC sounds like enough to deal with.

Awesome on the stop-smoking campaign! Good luck on that; I hope you find what it takes to followthrough with that!


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## SocialbFly (Oct 4, 2007)

good luck Saucy, have you thought of using the patches or something like it?? i hear it really helps...


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## Michelle (Oct 4, 2007)

Oh, Cindy - so sad to hear about the cancer. What'd they say about it and do you have to have any treatment for it?

Very good about smoking! It's so damned difficult. Four years after I quit, I still crave them frequently. Don't give up and if you need someone to scream to who understands your pain, give me a PM and I'll call you.


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## Zandoz (Oct 4, 2007)

{{{{Saucy}}}} Hang in there with the stopping smoking. You've caught the BCC and on the right track with the smoking...both better now than later. You can do it!


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## Theatrmuse/Kara (Oct 4, 2007)

(((((((((Saucy))))))))))))

Good for you about the non-smoking!!!!!!!! You can do this!
Hugs, Kara


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## Friday (Oct 5, 2007)

That's scary Saucy but I'm so glad they caught it early. Be well vibes on their way.


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## Paul (Oct 5, 2007)

SaucyWench,

My wife has a patch of basal cell carcinoma, the doctor told her it was not serious as long as it was surgically removed. Since the surgery many years ago she has been fine.

Here is what I found on the internet.

http://www.skincancer.org/basal/index.php



Skin Cancer Foundation said:


> Basal cell carcinoma can usually be diagnosed with a simple biopsy and is fairly easy to treat when detected early.



Congratulations on the decision to quit smoking. I have never smoked so I don't know how difficult it can be.

Paul.


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## Fuzzy (Oct 5, 2007)

Ditto the getting it caught early... Gadzooks!


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## Jes (Oct 5, 2007)

hang in there! know that you're ridding your body of some bad stuff by no longer smoking and that ultimately, you'll be very happy you did so!


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## mossystate (Oct 5, 2007)

just stopped by to say that I am thinking about you..will be watching for all the positive updates!


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## saucywench (Oct 5, 2007)

Thanks for the hugs and comments and well wishes, folks.

I can't remember who said/asked what while I'm in reply mode, but I just wanted to say that I'll be back to respond to some of this stuff (about the stopping smoking AND the skin cancer). I started a reply this morning that got kind of long and then I had to get dressed and leave for work.

I've been on the phone with a friend since I got home, and have to leave now to get dinner and see another friend (who knew I had friends?) but I _will_ be back to finish my response and post it. It may be tomorrow, though, because I'm tired and had a crappy day. I just wanted y'all to know (now instead of later) that I appreciate you.


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## JerseyGirl07093 (Oct 9, 2007)

It's a good thing you caught this when you did, now you can get it taken care of ASAP. I can only imagine how hard it is to try and quit smoking, but I bet you'll feel so much better if you do. Good luck!
My mom had cancer on her nose and had to have a piece of it cut out. I'll spare you the gory details of the procedure and the reconstruction. She had a 'spot' on her nose for at least a year and I kept telling her to go to the doctor and have it checked but she is from the school of 'if I ignore it maybe it isn't real'. She would have done much better if she had gone sooner. I don't know if the cancer was from her smoking all those years or from years of baking in the sun. Either way she still hasn't quit smoking. At least she avoids the sun now.


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## saucywench (Oct 9, 2007)

Thanks for the hugs and comments, folks. I know specific questions were asked, I'll respond in generic fashion, if that's ok.

The smoking: I've been gearing up for this for a while now. I've tried to quit before, longest I've gone was 2 months on 2 separate occasions with no cheating. I never considered myself the smoker type, in fact, I hated it, as both of my parents smoked. It was just one of those stupid high school things that I just picked up. I've been working with a counselor (this is my second time) in the work-sponsored program that is funded by our state's tobacco settlement. I had picked a quit date of Oct. 18 but warned my counselor that I might want to quit before that time, which is what I did. With each pack of cigarettes I have bought recently was the thought, will this be my last pack? Well, I ran out of smokes Saturday morning, so that was it. 

I've used the patch before, but, really, the other two times I quit "successfully" was cold turkey. I have some left-over patches that are many years old that I half-heartedly tried to use, but I'm allergic to the adhesive and, y'know, they give you really weird dreams. I could get new patches for free, I just have to have my doctor sign a form. I still may do that, but the purist approach to quitting cold turkey seems to appeal to my sensibilities. 

Several years ago I read some words from Elizabeth Kubler-Ross that resonated with me (as those seemingly insignificant, everyday things sometimes will) and I have remembered it since. I Googled it and found that it was part of an interview. I'm going to copy this particular part verbatim and emphasize the part that was meaningful to me:
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REDWOOD: Do you think there's such a thing as a "sacred inconsistency," such as your smoking cigarettes, which is justified even though destructive?"

KUBLER-ROSS: If we would only live "healthy," we would probably all have to be on a macrobiotic diet, and not enjoy coffee, not enjoy meat, not enjoy Swiss chocolates, not smoke, not even breathe the air we breathe in. I mean, the planet Earth has been so polluted with so many things, there is not a place on planet Earth where you could live a totally healthy life.

We should all try to live as healthy as possible. I mean, I grow vegetables for over 100 people, and it's a totally organic garden, and it's healthy. We live off the farm, and it's totally self-sustaining and self-supporting. But I have my weaknesses. I drink caffeine-free coffee, not that it matters terribly, but at least I make an attempt to live healthier. And as I get older, I can't drink alcohol anymore. I used to like a glass of wine, and I can't do it anymore.

_I think that as you evolve spiritually, automatically your body tells you what is acceptable for your body and what is not._ I could not now smoke the way I used to smoke when I went to medical school and worked nights. That's where I started smoking, to keep awake. I can't drink 15 cups of coffee,which I still did 20 years ago. Now I have caffeine-free coffee.

I survive. _Eventually, when my body tells me it's time to quit smoking, I will quit smoking._ But if somebody tells me you can't smoke, you can't do this, you can't do that, the aggravation of this constant nagging is, I think, more damaging to my health than if I listen to my own body and live accordingly.

I have beef on my farm. Maybe once a year I have beef. Not that I don't like it anymore, I just don't have the desire for it anymore. _I think everybody who is on a path of spiritual evolution, which all human beings are at different levels . . . you will know yourself what you have to give up. It will be one giving up after another. But it is replaced with things that are much more precious and much more valuable than what you give up._ But we don't tell that to people, because then they do it for the wrong motivation.
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My body told me it was time to quit smoking when I developed a chronic cough a couple of months ago. 

I was just tired of it. And I just couldn't seem to reconcile the smoking me with the rest of my persona. Don't get me wrong, I really, really miss it. As if I hadn't lost enough friends...cigarettes were my one constant companion, always there to comfort me. [This is where I left off last Thursday morning. Since then, life events took a decidedly downward turn but I was able to remain resolute until last night. I returned home to find my electricity shut off. I had paid the bill in full online last week, but the payment service hadnt yet notified the utility company. The house was dark and hot and my cell phone battery was low. I made it out to the back deck to catch what little daylight was left (storm clouds were gathering, so darkness appeared earlier than usual for that time of day) and called the utility company. After a few minutes of rooting around in the darkness of the house trying to find the confirmation receipt that I had printed out, the girl said she would rescind the shutoff and call them back out to turn on the electricity, with the caveat that they would return if my payment was not logged in the next few days. As many of you know, I cannot bear the heat (we tied a record high Sunday at 89 degrees). I stripped off my work clothes and put jeans and a t-shirt on my sweaty body and drove over to Barnes and Noble, as the rain began to fall. I wandered about in there for about an hour. When I exited, there was a HUGE rainbow in the skybigger and more brilliant than I had seen in years and years. If only that had been enough to soothe me. I returned home to lights and coolness. If only that had been enough. I had been home a while when this wave of--I dont know how to describe it, perhaps only a smoker or ex-smoker can know, butthe desire to smoke hit me very strongly. Prior to this I had been able to ignore any craving that I had, but this persisted, longer than the standard 15 minutes or so. I felt weakened, and I gave in to it. When a smoker describes cigarettes as being their best friend, as I did above, that cannot be overestimated. I was desperate to feel soothed, and I dont yet have the tools to know how to deal with when that feeling hits. But I have my phone appointment with my counselor this evening and, oddly enough, that is the scheduled topic. I plan to discuss with her why that happened and what I can do to combat those overwhelming moments in the future, and renew my resolve.

The skin cancer: This mole appeared, seemingly suddenly (I dont recall it developing, just one day it was there), right below my lower right eyelid about a couple of years ago. What is odd about this is thatwell, I am prone to getting moles, from an early age. There is a mole on my face in my second-grade picture that wasnt there the year before. I have had several removed/biopsied. Because of this, and because of my sun exposure (I was never a chronic sun-worshipper, but foolishly engaged in it on occasion), I had long had a strong feeling that I would develop skin cancer. Why the appearance of this mole did not trigger that alarm, I do not know. It was unlike a typical mole in that it was the same color as my skin and was oddly shaped more like two smaller moles stuck together, with a pencil-point-like indentation in the middle (see attached). 
View attachment 28726

I had mentioned it to my PCP on a couple of occasions (aside from the cosmetic aspects, it was just in the way on my face) and I dont know why it didnt occur to him, either, that it might be skin cancer. Anyway, right before I was due to see him for a return visit about something else, I contacted him to see if he could remove it or if I needed to go to Dermatology. He said he could, but we hadnt allowed enough time in my visit for it. 

So, when I did see him, he took a look at it and said hed refer me to the Derm clinic. When the young female doctor walked into the exam room and saw it, she said she was 99.97% sure that it was a skin cancer. She called in a faculty physician and he agreed with her assessment. They started to prep me and I pointedly asked her if she was going to remove the whole thing. She said shed biopsy it, taking just a piece, but that Id have to be seen by a derm oncology doc, who had special equipment that could view the growth as he removed it to make sure that he got it all. So she stabbed my face with a needle full of lidocaine (remember, this is Tuesday and I had quit smoking the previous Saturday) and went at it with the scalpel. It bled quite a bit, then she stuck a round band-aid on it and sent me on my merry way. The bandaid held up well, so I left it on for two days. I was at work when I decided to remove the band-aid. I looked in the mirror and, lo and behold, she had removed the whole thing. It would have been nice if she had told me that, since I specifically asked her if thats what she planned on doing. About an hour or two after that, I got a call from the nurse with the biopsy resultsthat it was basal cell carcinoma. She said theyre pretty common, and slow-growing (which I already knew), and that they had set up the appointment with the oncologist for the 23rd. Even though I knew in an intellectual sense that I would probably be OK, stillbeing told that you have cancer (of any form) is a little unsettling. I called my sister and told her and she said I needed to call the nurse back and ask her why the doctor removed the whole thing, also that I needed to reschedule since I would be going on a trip only a week after the 23rd. I said yeah, yeah, I know, I just wasnt thinking. So I called back and the nurse said, well, while the doctor was slicing she just decided to go ahead and get the whole thing, that the oncologist would just remove a very thin layer of skin where the growth was. Oh boyjust when the scab is almost healed, I get to be sliced on again. Anyway, I called the derm oncology clinic and they rescheduled the appointment for Nov. 8th, two days after I return from my trip. So thats where I stand with that. Ill keep yall updated.


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## Santaclear (Oct 9, 2007)

Whew, glad they caught the skin thing early, Saucy, and good luck on the quitting!


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## AnnMarie (Oct 9, 2007)

Good for you on the smoking, Cindy... and boo-hiss on the skin cancer, but hopefully it's just a small blip on the radar and now over. But I hear you completely, anyone saying the words "you have.... cancer" of any kind is going to cause you to skip a beat. We're so conditioned for the fear. 

Let us know how the follow up goes.


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## Flyin Lilac (Oct 10, 2007)

Hey Saucy I'm wishing you the best on the whole shebang --- skin thing, cigarette thing, the works. We've got yer back.


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## Friday (Oct 11, 2007)

Wish I had some magic methods from my own quitting experience Sauce, but all I can say is I'm with you girl. I know how hard it is and it took me 31 years to be ready to try quitting. But it can be done and I'm sure that you can do it. Hang in there.


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## Michelle (Oct 12, 2007)

I know you'll be able to quit. It just make take a few times, especially if you're trying cold turkey. Have you thought about keeping some nicorette gum around for those times when you get a severe craving?

Here's how I did it. Maybe some of the things I did would help you (or maybe not - everyone finds their way). I had tried quitting about 3 times over my life time, which always resulted in failure. In 2003, I made a vow to quit smoking the year I turned 50 and in January, I made my first attempt. I used the patch and quit for six weeks and then my cat had a heart attack and died and I started smoking that day. Finally, in November of that year, I realized time was running out so I just up and quit one Monday morning. This time, I threw the pack away (always before I had kept some around, with the excuse that if I knew they were there, I wouldn't get nervous about not having any). 

Having no cigarettes in the house or car was really important to my success. I also bought myself lots of regular gum and had a pen I took the guts out of that I could take a drag on and the air coming through it would give me the sensation of a drag. With those two aids when those serious, mind-sucking cravings came up, it finally worked. 

It is now almost four years later and I still want a cigarette almost every day. I was seriously addicted and I'm not sure the cravings will ever go completely away. But I can control them now. Although, I keep having dreams about smoking and the other day I almost went and bought a pack, thinking I'd just have one - and before I got to the store, I realized I was temporarily insane.


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## Friday (Oct 15, 2007)

I have finally gotten to the stage that cigs are gross but back when they still seemed attractive at times a good whiff of a stale, dirty ashtray took care of that right quick. :huh: Eeeuuuww.

I also read somewhere about somebody who was quitting dumping the contents of an ashtray or two into a quart jar and then adding some water and letting it steep for later whiffing. Double eeeuuuwww.


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## Suze (Oct 21, 2007)

Best wishes and good luck to you!


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## out.of.habit (Nov 11, 2007)

Cindy, I totally missed this thread before now, and I wish I hadn't! I'm really glad to hear that it was caught so early, but I totally get how any news involving any variant of the word "carcinoma" is quite unsettling, regardless of the prognosis. 

I hope that you're doing well, and that the visit on the 8th went swimmingly. I wish I had some good quitting advice, but I think you're spot on with the philosophy that your body is telling you that its time.

((((((Saucy))))))) Many hugs for quick healing.


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## Tina (Nov 11, 2007)

Criminy. How did I miss this thread?  Cindy, I'm sorry about this diagnosis, but very happy that you caught it early.

How are you doing now, and how's it going quitting smoking? I quit back in the 90s, and taking Welbutrin helped loads -- and that was before they knew it could help with that and then named it Zyban and sold it for that, so it was no placebo effect. My very best to you in this, Cindy.


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## saucywench (Nov 11, 2007)

Oh, sorry--with all of the MRSA froufrau I forgot to come back here and mention that my trip to the derm oncologist had to be rescheduled, because he was going to be out of town. I see him on the 27th.

I made it through 8 days without smoking, then had a relapse due to unrelated stress issues. Now that that's over, and I'm pretty much over the MRSA business, I plan to give it another go in the next few days. I plan to be better prepared this time, though, stocking up on some Nicorette gum or something.

Thanks for asking.


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## saucywench (Nov 27, 2007)

They told me I had to go home, I couldn't go in to work.

It didn't take very long. I went in at 8:00, got out around 11:30 or so.

Once they got me situated, the doc took a magic marker and circled where he thought the cancer was (presumably around where the growth had been). He told the two residents with him that I was young eek and had "snappy" skin *(complete with demonstration of pulling the skin under my lower lid and releasing)--so that's in my favor. I asked him about keloid scarring but we don't expect that to be a problem (I have a tiny bit of that in the crook of my elbow). He then scraped a layer of skin off, took it down the hall to the lab where they sectioned and examined it. Then he came back and said they didn't get it all, it was actually a little more "north" of where he had scraped, so we had to do the procedure again. When he returned from the lab the second time he said he got it all. He explained why he had to make the Y-shaped incision; I don't remember it all, something having to do with balance and the healing scar not pulling my eyelid down and whatnot.

Right now, the area looks something like this:
View attachment 31419

(Pretend the growth that is there has already been removed)

He prescribed another round of Bactrim as a precautionary measure because of the MRSA (he said I could probably expect to get another bout of it at some point, oh yay) and some Darvosets for any pain (woohoo!) At first they told me that my eye would have a patch over it, but they were able to bandage the area right up to my eyelid without having the patch. The doc said he'd call me tonight (isn't that nice?) and I get my stitches out on Monday. 

That's about it for now; I'll report any further progress/development as we go along.


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## out.of.habit (Nov 27, 2007)

saucywench said:


> They told me I had to go home, I couldn't go in to work.
> 
> It didn't take very long. I went in at 8:00, got out around 11:30 or so.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the update, Saucy. I'm glad that the procedure was fairly simple. How're you feeling?


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## Friday (Nov 28, 2007)

Glad that it's done Saucy and perhaps not as awful as expected.


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