The Day After

No more "maybe it isn't skin cancer", it really is. My appointment with the plastic surgeon has been scheduled for April 29th. In the world of "cancer" this is a good sign...there is no immediate hurry to get in there to get rid of it as it is slow growing. In the world of "worrying" it prolongs the questions such as: Will it be able to be done in the doctor's office like my last basal cell? Will it have to be done in the hospital? Will it have to be done in stages? Will it involved a skin graft? The question I am hoping for a yes on is "Can you just take out the skin evenly across my forehead and give me a mini face lift?" Of course, the doctors always tell you not to Google what you have; but of course, what is the first thing you do with a diagnosis? You Google it! What I found was an eye opening and very scary account of one amazing woman, Shannon's battle with Basal Cell Carcinoma.

Can you see my skin cancer in this one eyed photo of me from last fall? You can barely see it, but it's there, about one inch above my eyebrow. It looks like one side of a mini m&m is under my skin.  The reality of this picture is that it's only the tip of the iceberg. I now have the clinical photo Dr. Prokop took last week.  After reading Shannon's blog and seeing what she went through on the tip of her nose, I know it could always be so much worse. I've already started the transformation of my hair to have the slanted bang look over my right eye so that if the incision is large and reconstruction is prolonged, I can hopefully keep it somewhat covered (except for when the wind blows :) Yes, the picture is quite freaky of just one of my eyes and yes, it's amazing such a small rise in your skin can cause such alarm. However, hopefully this will remind one and all to remind themselves and those that they love.... Please, use your sunscreen today.