Yuck! When dermatologist said "a sample"

[Iris]

I didn't know that meant digging out two little holes in my arm.


WEAR SUNSCREEN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

[RebelOne]

1. I always use sunscreen,

but I have a suspicious area on my arm that I am going to have checked out. For years, it was just a wavy little area on my forearm. All of a sudden it has turned red.

[Iris]

4. That's the same scenario I had

It may be nothing. Will get results next week.

[marzipanni]

2. I knew someone who had a lesion removed from her face

Her doctor told her to put urine on it to help it heal. Have you heard of this before? Good skin creams have urea as an ingredient, and that's in urine, too.

[Iris]

5. ew! I don't think I could do that!

Although, I have long been suspicious about urea in my products!

[jakeXT]

12. It seems so easy

[Iris]

13. hahaha!

[distantearlywarning]

3. Happened to me too.

I had a pre-melanoma removed two years ago and now I have a nickle-sized scar on the back of my leg. I consider myself lucky.

Now I go see the dermatologist yearly, and I wear 100SPF sunscreen at the beach. Tanning is no longer an option for me.

[Iris]

6. I'm not totally shocked by this.

It's on my left arm. The arm that no matter how much I try to use sunscreen always gets sun when I ride in the car.

He said they could freeze it off or maybe cut it out. I guess it depends on how much is there. Will know more next week.

[SCantiGOP]

7. See your dermatologist once a year

I might be dead had I not married a lady who grew up in what used to be a fishing village (shrimp now comes from Asia) on the coast of SC. She knew more people who had skin cancers than heart attacks, because everyone spend every so much time out on the water. She kept nagging me to go see about a couple of weird looking moles on my back, so I finally went. Doctor looked at the moles and said they were fine, then looked at one I had never noticed and said, "That's coming off now." Cut a chunk out of my side, and, when the results came back confirming melanoma I went back in and they cut about a 6 inch slice to make sure they got all of it. I have a scar that looks like I was in a knife fight.
While it was melanoma, it was only .34 mm thick, and I believe the standard is that they don't typically spread unless the get to at least .76 mm. I still had to go for checks every 6 months for 5 years, and now I go every year. Growing up with blond hair and blue eyes in the South before the advent of sunblock made this very likely. She said the damage that led to the cancer likely came from overexposure when I was a kid.
Bottom line: regardless of race, skin tone or geography, every adult should see a dermatologist.

[Iris]

8. Here's the crazy thing

My husband has a spot on the side of his head that we've been wondering about for a while. My thing started because a mark on my arm started bleeding and when I was looking at pictures of skin cancer, I noticed one that looked like what was on his head! So, we BOTH had appointments with the dermatologist this week. In my research, I learned that skin cancers become much more common in people over the age of 40, so we'll be going back regularly.

[SCantiGOP]

9. over 40 is correct

I was in my mid-50s when I had my incident. I assumed the doctor was going to give me a big lecture on using sunscreen, but she said it usally takes years to develop skin cancer. She said I was still high risk because I spent my youth running around most of the summers with nothing on but a pair of shorts and tennis shoes. She said sun exposure I'm getting now could be a problem if I live another 40 years.

[Iris]

10. I also grew up in the South

but freckled easily and since I didn't like them getting darker, became a sunscreen freak when I was 17. Around that time (27 years ago, gulp!), I also read that most wrinkles are caused by sun damage, so that was probably the primary incentive!

Anyway, just could never seem to find the correct amount to apply to account for that driving around in the car bit.

One good thing is I had the full body exam and the doctor was amazed at the lack of moles I have! I really think my left arm is my most over-exposed body part so maybe this will be an isolated incident. I hope.

(And you had melanoma? That's the worst, right? No incidents since then?)

[SCantiGOP]

11. interesting fact

Last edited Fri Apr 20, 2012, 02:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Americans versus English have 30% more skin cancers on their left arms than British, who have 20% more on their right side, because of the sun exposure while driving.
And, you are right about the wrinkles. There are a lot of prunish looking women in their 60s in my area of the world because of sun, and even worse if they smoked.
And, no more incidents. The melanoma was caught in the very early stages, but if it spreads it is one of the highest fatality rates of cancer.

[RebelOne]

14. Yes, wrinkles caused by the sun was the main reason I used sunscreen.

I grew up in South Florida and at that time there was no such thing as sunscreen and in the '70's and '80's I started using it. My mother got skin cancer on face and she was very rarely in the sun. But when she was younger, we lived on Miami Beach and she would sun bathe all the time. Her doctor said it was probably caused from that.

[Iris]

15. Yep - I read that when I was 17

and my face never saw the sun again without sunscreen.

Ah, vanity.

[applegrove]

16. I had a really bad sunburn as a teen. I'm sure i'll be spending a lot of time at the dermitologist's

Last edited Fri Apr 20, 2012, 08:27 PM - Edit history (1)

office as I age.