Squamous Cell Carcinoma

[kelkel]

I wanted to post this as a reminder to everyone to take precautions in the sun.

Back story is that for about the past 12 years I've gone to a skin doctor for a yearly check up. Basically stip down and the doctor checks out everything for damage. Normally they'd find a few spots of minor crap that they would freeze off and that's the end of it. Good thing is the past few years the doc is a good looking female. But the rooms chilly so that doesn't help things....

Anyway, this year I noticed an odd growth on the back of one ear. I'd just scrape it off myself and it would return. Also, a sort of pimple on my upper cheek just below ear level. I'd deal with it, it would bleed and then return. So, with that in mind I felt I should go in early and get them checked out.

The doctor immediately looked at both of these and said she feels they are cancerous and that she needs to biopsy them right away. Fine. She scraped them off of both locations and I went on my way. All else was fine, just small as remember it's chilly in there. A week or so later they call and advise that both spots are "Squamous Cell Carcinomas" and that they'd have to schedule a meeting with the surgeon.

My appointment with the surgeon came and he advised surgery would definitly have to be performed on my ear. He examined my cheek and felt that the simple excisement for biopsy removed all the cancer cells, nice, but that he'd want to check more thoroughly when surgery is done on my ear.

Weeks later I go in for surgery. They tell you to dress warm as the surgery center is kept cold for health reasons. Also to pack a lunch if so inclined as you can be there most of the day. The surgery itself is quite advanced and called MOHS Therapy. This describes it:

Mohs surgery is a precise surgical technique used to treat skin cancer. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are progressively removed and examined until only cancer-free tissue remains. Mohs surgery is also known as Mohs micrographic surgery

So, the good news is that when the surgeon examined my cheek he concluded that no surgery was needed. Yeah me that's a relief. During the initial biopsy they had to stick needles in my cheek. Not fun. I can handle needles about anywhere but in the face is not a first choice, by a long stretch. Ear ain't fun either for that matter.

They then started on my ear with the needles again. Lovely. Then the initial removal begins. Ultimately they bandage me up and send me back to the waiting room to wait for results and find out if they have to remove more or not. An hour or so goes by and the nurse advised they'd have to do it again. Awesome! So, round two gets done. At this point I handed my phone to the nurse and asked her to take a few pics for me as I obviously can't see the wound. She laughed and obliged. I then had to go back and wait again to see if a third round of digging was necessary. Fortunately it wasn't.

So, I'm now bandaged up and sent home with specific instructions to change it twice daily. I was also instructed to return the next day to get stitches put in. Both inner and outer. Next I was to come back in two weeks (this Thursday) to get them removed.

The cure rate for this type of cancer is very high, thankfully. I wanted to get this out there to simply remind everyone (or y'all) how important sun screen is. It can happen to anyone and literally could have been from decades ago. Note that some years ago here we lost a staff member to skin cancer as well.

Pics below are lovely.