"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.