This morning as I post this, my sister Connie is undergoing surgery for invasive skin cancer. The surgeon will slice a bit, do the pathology to be sure he has clean margins and, if not, go back in and slice another sliver and so on until they have clean, cancer-free margins. The pathology itself takes 45 minutes at least each time. We already know her cancer is pretty deep.
I’ve had my own bouts of skin cancer. One was a large malignant squamous cell carcinoma that grew on my arm above my wrist. It started as a small itchy patch on my skin I thought was merely the result of Arizona’s dry climate. But it wasn’t and grew into an alien tumor super fast. A chunk of my arm was removed until they found cancer-free margins.
The resulting scar is my reminder to take appropriate precautions and always wear sunscreen along with performing regular screening checks via self-checks as well as by my doctor.
Please think good thoughts for Connie today—and then arrange a preventative screening appointment to protect yourself. I want you to live and be happy.
Resources
- American Cancer Society
- CancerConnect
- Skin Cancer Awareness Foundation
- Skin Cancer Foundation
- SOS—Save Our Skin
- Women’s Health
Keeping Connie in my prayers today. My husband had a basal cell tumor removed a few years ago and I try to be vigilant about sunscreen, hats, and long sleeves.
ReplyDeleteSending you and your sister positive and healing thoughts. I'm due for a checkup, thanks for the reminder. Hugs to you!
ReplyDeleteHope your sister is OK...
ReplyDeleteAll the best to Connie....it really is something we need to pay more attention to.
ReplyDeleteI really hope all went well for your sister yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI hope all went well with your ister's surgery, June! I've had actinic keratoses removed with chemotherapy cream that burned them off and I try to be very careful about using sunblock.
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