Basal skin cancers don't seem to concern the doctors. I was told not to worry because this was not a cancer that kills. I use true Cansema on mine. I get a spot or two every ten years or so. But I was asked to look at a woman's cancer on her ear by her neice to tell her if it was cancer. It was slowly eating her ear like leprosy. The woman said she was not going to do anything about it. To each their own.
I was told that the basal skin cancers take decades to grow to the point they may metastasize to lymph nodes. But when you hear the word "cancer," a bucket full of fear comes with it. I'm particularly concerned because the men in my family die early of it, although it's mostly behavioral (smoking and drinking.) But I still got the genes. I'm not sure how concerned to be (or not to be.) I've had 2 full screenings the past couple of years and nothing else has been found.
I just read this whole thread for first time.Never saw it. Good its over and your doing ok. I've dealt with skin cancers for almost 50 years now. They were mostly froze off. First one on my nose was shaved off. One on eyebrow was cut out. One on my forearm and under breast was the big surgery which not realty bad just to the bone on arm and rib. !5 years ago never came back. I can say at least 50 have been froze off over the years no scars. One doctor told me they would radiate one under my eye and I may lose my site from radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I couldn't get out of that place fast enough. That was 20 years ago another dermo froze it off. Be involved in your care all doctors are human.
Since about forty years ago, the healing doctors or other health care professionals with years or decades experience and knowledge and training healing people do not accept any insurance. Those who visit them end up healed though, without spending wasted hours , months waiting, or years on drugs that don't heal the cause of whatever problem they have. i.e. finding the source of a problem, the cause of a problem, and correcting it, is not the goal nor the intent of pharmakeia nor those under pharmacy control. If the health giver is on the up and up, yes some are in it for the money too, their testing and evaluation will be / is/ the most helpful and honest available , not being controlled by the drugmakers. Thus it does or can lead to a simple or true remedy for more conditions people have than any licensed clinic or provider that is under the ama.
Not all are helpful. A pharmacist I worked with in Millington TN was about sixty years old when I met him. He described his bout with cancer this way : "I had skin cancer on a finger. I went to Mexico to a clinic curing people of cancer. They 'painted' the cancer with a solution of Laetrile daily for two weeks. The cancer went away and did not come back". Simple. Repeated often the last century, as many thousands went to /and go to/ Mexico or another country for natural cure for cancer and other problems. He noted that a neighbor also had the same skin cancer, also on a finger. The neighbor did not go anywhere to be healed. He went to normal ama pharmacy controlled cancer treatment. He died in three months. I've watched "skin cancer" come and go on its own. Many people get cancer several times a year and never go to a doctor for it. It just goes away. They often do not even know they had cancer. Remember, sadly, the over fifty percent FALSE POSITIVES on recent news ? Decades ago thousands of woman had disfiguring surgery because they were told they had cacner. Later there were thousands of lawsuits nationwide because they found out they never had cancer - they were operated on needlessly . This happens a lot in the usa. With "skin cancer" that would go away on its own also - it is a trillion dollar industry that wants the money that tells them they need to treat it "fast", often, lying to spur them on, even telling them they "NEED" to get to it "FAST" because "it's a fast growing cancer" when it is not at all such a problem.
I'm glad you've survived all of that. I mentioned the woman I worked for who used to go in at least every 3 months (may have been more often) to have new cancers frozen off. She had been a lifeguard at the local pool from the time she was young all the way through her college years. I assume she'll be going that the rest of her life...may it be a long one. I agree with being involved in my care. My doctors are advisors, and I am the decision maker. Some are highly trusted, while others are merely gatekeepers to tests.
I've always liked the water and had lots of sun. I'm light completion. Scar on arm and near rib about an inch each. Had 12 stitches in my hand and no scar. I don't scar easy. CORRECTION THATS 12 NOT 23!
I'm coming up on the end of Week 8 after the surgery. UVA Health started handing out pics of what it looks like when it's healed (they called me along the way to ask if the pics were of value), and mine never looked like the "moist pink new flesh" shown on the pic of the nose wound. I've been more than diligent on wound care, sometimes changing it 2-3 times a day instead of the recommended on time. And they did not tell me exactly when to stop. I've not had crusting and I've not had an infection, so I guess there's really no other measurement of "healing OK." The internet says 4-6 weeks are typical. There's still a small divot. When the guy called to do a survey on the benefit of the pics we talked about it, and he said they see the darker healing flesh in patients who are on blood thinners (I am not.) And my wound did not bleed as the after-care instructions said may happen. I gotta think we are each unique. I just made a note to myself to call them tomorrow. I believe I can email a pic and they'll evaluate it over the phone. In the meantime I stopped wearing the bandages when I sleep. I've done that the past 2 nights. I was fine until I hit the 4 week mark, and for some reason at that point the bandages started to bother me. I'd sometimes wake up having scratched at it in the middle of the night, and I'd get up at 3AM and slap on some more Vaseline and another bandage...I had started to get the itch that we all get when things are beginning to heal. I'm not concerned about it healing without any visible scar. I won't be seeking plastic surgery.
I would have been surprised had I never got a skin cancer. We had a small trailer we parked the entire summer at Lake Michigan when we lived in Indiana, then then parked at Ocean City MD when we lived in Virginia. I was always outside, both back at home and on the water. And I fished and camped a lot as an adult. And my mother was British. I had times I've been burned, but much of the time I was dark brown with my hair bleached out. I don't scar much, either. That's what I told the doctor when we discussed my options for fixing the hole he just made...I decided to let my body do its own thing with no stitch and no graft from my ear lobe.
I've had so,me fairly large wounds from surgery and they told me NO BANDAGE AFTER 1ST DAY. Thats over the last 15 year's. Only Vaseline. Even on the one with 12 stitches in my hand they cruised all through the top of my hand ,no bandage after first day. But if your going to be doing some kind of dirty work I'd wear one. Also this is University 'hand' and a private for other two surgeries. Office who gave these instructions.
They put some type of mesh patch in there that's supposed to become part of the wound, then they apply copious amounts of bandages that you leave on for 2 days following surgery. Then you start the daily washing and application of Vaseline with a fresh covering. The small piece of mesh came off with the bandage...I don't believe it's that big of a deal. The doctor told me that the risk of letting it heal on its own would be a slight 1mm rise/mound to the area (he thought that risk would be low for me), but so far the divot has yet to fill in. Again, I'm not real concerned. It's not crusty, it's not ugly and it's not infected.