All Clear!!!

On Wednesday of this past week I had my post op appointment with my plastic surgeon.  I had been a bit anxious about the appointment because I knew that before he could say this skin cancer was behind me, I had to get the pathology results.  When a skin cancer is removed, they take a margin of healthy skin also, so as to have clear borders, without cancer cells at the incision.  When the wonderful assistant, Lori, walked me in to the room she gave me two thumbs up and told me the pathology came back perfect.  HUGE sigh of relief, no more surgery needed!

Dr. McGill came in and quickly announced the same results and said "so, this one is behind you"....to which I replied "yes, this one, right?"  The reality is that I will have to vigilant in watching my skin, with the help of my dermatologist.  The damage to my skin started 41 years ago when I was born in Daytona Beach Florida and continued through my trips to the beach, swimming competitively in outdoor pools all summer, living outside as a child (all summer, outside except for lunch, dinner, and having to come home when the streetlights came on--remember those days??), going to parades, camping, and more ALL without ,use of sunscreen or hats.  Dr. McGill himself said the damage is done; but I need not add to the damage--which I won't.  I'm going to be proudly pale skinned and yes, my friends, co-workers, and family are constantly reminded about the dangers when I see they are burned, or know they are fake and baking (NICOLE), and have little children.....It's all fun and games until a chunk of skin has to be cut out of your body....face, ears, nose, arm, leg, shoulder, foot, hands.....skin cancer doesn't discriminate where it makes it's appearance.

I was fortunate this time....Basal Cell Carcinoma is the least lethal type of skin cancer.  It doesn't spread fast, and if you catch it early, only a small chunk of skin needs to be removed.  Please, be vigilant about your skin and watch changes.  Many of my friends and co-workers are making appointments with my dermatologist as a result of what I've just gone through--they've never been, they've had skin damage and they've never had their skin looked at.  I am happy that my being open about what is going on with me is helping friends make a difference in their lives.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend and please, don't forget to use your sunscreen today!!

**Right after writing this I went to walk at our local Relay For Life event, for our team #relayteamtwitter and the one other survivor I met on our team, also had skin cancer, it is everywhere folks**

Having a little fun with it!

The week of stitches is almost behind me.  As you can see from the picture, my eyebrow is still a bit up but has settled a lot compared to how high it was pulled from the surgery (from removing enough of a border around the skin cancer); and the swelling is no where's near as bad as it was post op.  However, does it every itch!!  Itching is good because it means it's healing....at least that's what they say. 

Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. I go in to have the stitches taken out. The incision is so different than any I've ever had before with prior surgeries.  Having a plastic surgeon maks all the difference!  The line from the incision is so thin, it seems like it's going to look like a true wrinkle line, just like he aimed to do!  Tomorrow will be the moment of truth!

In the meantime, I've had fun with people asking me what happened when they see the stitches on my head...the following lines people have fallen for (or at least thought about for a second!):

"I was taking out my storm windows"

"My new boss is quite violent!"

"If you think this looks bad, you should see the other girl!"

The best one, man oh man, has made us in advertising laugh all week long!  A coworker asked me in the most sincere concerned voice" Dawn, what happened to your head? Are you ok?" to which I replied "Yeah, I'm Ok.....I got attacked by an Eagle"....and the look of shock and concern that went over his face was priceless!  He's a transplant and just moved to Maine last October, and no one had told him about the "attack eagles" we have in this state :)

Please, please, don't forget to use your sunscreen today!!

"Ohhhh, it's not THAT bad!!"

Everyone who saw the "spot" on my forehead after the basal cell diagnosis always had the same response "Oh that's not bad!" of   "That should leave a real small scar." or  "Nobody will notice it!"  Now, don't get me wrong, everyone has been so incredibly supportive through the weeks of waiting for the excision with my plastic surgeon, Dr. McGill.  However, the post op picture that I had taken right after sitting up shows you that even the smallest skin cancer can leave very large scars in comparison.   I am confident that once the stitches are removed next week, it will look a million times better; but I do feel like a bit of an eye sore at the moment.  My sons won't look me in the eye, my boss, whom I happened to bump into as I was grabbing a few "comfort food" items at the store on the way home, looked away immediately, and the cashier, well, she couldn't look either.  I wish I had a t-shirt made ahead of time saying "If you want a scar like this or worse, keep tanning and burning your skin"..with "skin cancer sucks cuts!" on the back.

 Dr. McGill even commented that it's a small skin cancer to remove and he felt it was superficial (thankfully). The absolute worst part during the procedure was all the injections for the local block he put into my forehead.  There isn't any fat to cushion the injections and let me tell you, they hurt like h*ll!  I think the nurse's hands will be bruised tonight from me squeezing so hard.  Fortunately, Dr. McGill and his assistant were very talkative so it made it easier to bear the pulling and tugging that was going on in my forehead area.  I even talked BDN advertising with them; and convinced him to speak about how invasive skin cancer can be at Tuesday Forum one day soon! 

So, as I stick close to home these next few days, I hope whoever reads this blog also forwards it to the sun worshipers in their lives.  I've never been a sun worshiper, and yet I AM dealing with the lasting effects of skin damage from my childhood.  I wish those who lay in tanning beds this weekend ,or who lay out in the sun, could, just for a moment, feel what it felt like for me this morning.  Maybe, just maybe, some of them will think twice and stop contributing to the skin damage that has already occurred in their lives.

One last thought....On a Discovery Health show called "Extreme Addictions" last weekend there was a girl addicted to tanning.  Everyone kept telling her how concerned they were that she would die from skin cancer.  Her response, on camera was "Well, I'm going to die from something so I might as well die "hot"!  NOT!!!

Please, PLEASE don't forget to use your sunscreen, today.

Less than a week away

Life has been extremely busy in the past week or so, which hasn't allowed me a lot of time to dwell over my upcoming surgery.  Big changes at work, lots of family happenings, and preparing with my team for Old Town Maine's Relay for Life. 

Today we had our last team meeting, during which we found a way to honor my mother in law, Joyce, who lost her 12 year battle with breast cancer on one of our team meeting days, January 31, 2010. Her death hit Team Twitter quite hard, even though they hadn't met her.  They were reminded of why we were raising money for cancer research.  Joyce was only my mother in law for a very short time; but she will be in my heart forever.  Today we created a "Joyce Project" in her honor...collecting bras to be sent to Athena parties to raise money for breast cancer research.  Athena parties wants to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest chain of bras....if everyone who was touched by Joyce's life donates a bra, it will certainly make a huge dent in that record!

Looking at my upcoming surgery that should be pretty simple in the world of cancer, I again realize how fortunate I am.  I am however, a bit anxious as to what the cosmetic results will be when all things are said and done.  I'm hoping they get clean borders the first time around so they do not have to go in again.  I'm also wondering how "beat up" I will look with the swelling and bruising, right around my eye.

What does one do in a situation like mine, when they have a curious mind?  I Google'd "skin cancer surgery images"....and let me tell you, the images were mind boggling.  These images, however, I felt everyone should see who is out in tanning beds to get rid of the winter white legs.  People need to be reminded that white without scars is so much better than tanned with prematurely aged skin, or worse yet, skin that has to be hacked into in order to get rid of the skin cancers that develop.  There were 1 million NEW cases of non-melanoma skin cancers in the US in 2009 (National Cancer Institute)!  I found the powerful skin cancer prevention poster from Australia and wondered if I've ever seen a skin cancer prevention poster in the US?

In the days leading up to my surgery I will be spending time laughing with friends, starting a new role at work and celebrating two of my sons' birthdays (John is 19 on Monday the 10th and Cameron is 17 on Wednesday the 12th!).  I'm kind of bummed that the day after Cam turns 17 he will be taking me to the plastic surgeon for my surgery; but I also know my kids will never forget to use sunscreen. Please, don't forget to use your sunscreen, today.

**check out this blog I found:  http://www.damagedskin.blogspot.com**