Don't forget the sunscreen---USE CAUTION

GFC.
I'm glad to see you were screened and treated. My Dad died of melanoma in May of '09 at the age of 65. He is the reason I boat, use sunscreen AND fight cancer.
You have some Frankenstein scar there, but you're alive to tell people about a cool bar fight or something even cooler......like using sunscreen.
Here's to a quick and thorough healing.
 
Wow!! What an eye opener. Being of the light skinned Irish descent, my wife keeps bothering me about wearing hats, sunscreen etc. I can't stand either one that prob explains the marks on my face,,, this post really makes me think that she's right (again) I'm going to make an appt soon I've never seen a dermatologist before but now I will. Thank you
 
Mike-
Thanks for the very eye-opening post! Took some balls to post photos like that!
Very important for all of us to remember the sunscreen!
Here's to a quick recovery Mike! May I suggest using aloe vera on the scar?
 
Well, I went back to the Doc today for another fun time. When I was in there a few weeks ago they biopsied two areas and both were positive for a squamous cell carcinoma. The first of those two was the subject of the first two pictures in this thread.

Today I went back and got the second removed. It was above my right ear, right at the bottom of my sideburn. Here's the results.....

2012-12-18_11-54-52_162.jpg


2012-12-18_12-10-37_961.jpg


This one doesn't hurt nearly as much as the first one and the reason for that is the skin in front of the ear is much more elastic than the skin at the top of the forehead where the first one was cut out. This was a much simpler operation and so far, the pain has been minimal.

I don't know if I mentioned it in the prior posts, but the first one was cut out on a Monday morning. The headache didn't go away until Wednesday around mid-day. Aspirin, ibuprofen and Tylenol 3's didn't curb it so I just had to let it run its course.

Don't forget the sunscreen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Mike I prey for a speedy and full recovery!!! And thank you for full exposure of your condition to help others.
 
This actually makes me think to get checked again. 25 years or so ago, I had removed what they called pre-malignant malinoma. I was checked every 6 months for a while but not for very many years. I believe I have seen a dermatologist once in the past 15 years and shame on me! The core sample they took out of my back was a large enough diameter to get the "roots" of the little bastard. The funny thing is I was at my allergist for some bad hay fever symptoms and when he had me remove my shirt to listen to my lungs, he noticed this "thing" on my back that looked abnormal. He was also a dermatologist as luck would have it. I grew up in South San Francisco where sunburns didn't happen since it was too cold. The problem was we would travel anywhere and I would fry like bad chicken. As they say, one bad burn as a child can lead to cancer later. I need to order one of them there hats too!
 
I guess when this thread started coincided with the date I was diagnosed with Melanoma so i haven't been on to read this. I've had various spots burned or frozen off in the past but during my regularly scheduled dermatology visit in November my Doctor didn't like the way a few spots looked so she took a few new biopsies. Well, the following day I got an earful. The spot on my neck was Melanoma and three biopsies on my face and one on my shoulder were Squamous Cell cancers. I scheduled surgery on my neck last Thursday and the pic below is the result of that, a 2 1/2" diameter excavation closed to a tight ugly scar. I have surgery for the three locations on my face on January 11th, the shoulder to be scheduled at another time. Prior to talking with the surgeon my wife wanted me out of boating and out of golf. I had the boat on the market earlier but the boat went back on the market last week, though she's now open to considering staying in boating (I intended on moving up, a hardtop provides better UV protection, that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Anyway, she's shopping for UV protective hats and long sleeve shirts for my time outside. A couple of things I've taken from the past few weeks; life is short, don't let it slip away; I need to be very diligent about reapplying (I use a 70 spf but only apply in the morning) and most importantly....the damage that has been after years in the sun can't be undone for any of us, but for our kids, or grandchildren, they can be protected in ways we never were. If any of us take anything from this thread is that we owe it to them to make sure they have their fun in the sun witout having to suffer these consequences later in life....apply, apply and reapply, every day in the sun!!!View attachment 28397
 
Wow Brian, good luck with these. It seems this thread was timely. That does it! I am in the middle of choosing a new general practitioner and as soon as I can get an appointment with him I will be requesting a visit to my dermatologist.
 
I just schedule annually after I winterize.
 
Re: Adding a pair of wolverine engine heaters and 110 lights in the bilge

jason78 said:
For all the comments about wearing shirts and hats, just remember they need to be rated for UV to offer good protection. I know Columbia has a line of UV Shirts. For a hat, I wear a Tilley hat which also provides UV protection.http://www.tilley.com/Shop/SunProtection.aspxhttp://www.columbia.com/Omni-Shade/Technology_Omni-Shade,default,pg.html
Click to expand...

+1 on anything Tilley. Expensive but worth it. I have the hat, several shirts, and a pair of zip off pants.
 
I used to go annually, usually after my winter/spring Florida and Carribean trips but now my dermatologist has put me on an every 3 month regimen.

skolbe said:
I just schedule annually after I winterize.
Click to expand...
 
Havana Shamrock said:
Wow!! What an eye opener. Being of the light skinned Irish descent, my wife keeps bothering me about wearing hats, sunscreen etc. I can't stand either one that prob explains the marks on my face,,, this post really makes me think that she's right (again) I'm going to make an appt soon I've never seen a dermatologist before but now I will. Thank you
Click to expand...

Joe,
I have a good guy out of Stony Brook if you don't have one by you. You definitely need to stay on top of this stuff. My wife made me go and I basically did it to stop the nagging (she's moved on to something else now-so much for that) and I'm glad I did. She probably saved my life and bought me countless years with my kids. I have to say I did a lot of reflection like Brian when I got diagnosed. It's really an eye opener.



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I have learned that no all Dermatologists are the same. Try to find one that specializes in skin cancer and skin cancer surgery. They see enough skin cancers that their experience level is higher and some of them are able to do minimal scar surgery like grafting and Mohs surgery.

If any of you guys are in Middle Tennessee PM me and I'll give you contact info for an excellent skin cancer/surgery specialist.
 
fwebster said:
I have learned that no all Dermatologists are the same. Try to find one that specializes in skin cancer and skin cancer surgery. They see enough skin cancers that their experience level is higher and some of them are able to do minimal scar surgery like grafting and Mohs surgery.

If any of you guys are in Middle Tennessee PM me and I'll give you contact info for an excellent skin cancer/surgery specialist.
Click to expand...

Frank,

That is a GREAT point! My Doctor is an Oncological Dermatologist, which I guess is a specialty. He came highly recommended from one of my patients parents. He actually sent me to a plastic surgeon for the melanoma on my face and he did the spots on my back himself. If I can find the post pics I'll post them. The back looks worse for sure! But the point you made is an important one.
 
Thanks Todd, I will see you soon, can you give me the info then?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It seems this thread has accomplished what I intended it to do.....get all of us/you talking about skin cancers and getting appointments with a dermatologist. If you're like me, you grew up around the water and/or spent a lot of time outside playing in the sun. When I was a kid (50's and 60's) we didn't have sunscreen. Coppertone came along and for years it was the only thing out there. Then people began to realize how dangerous skin cancer could be and the market was saturated with low-SPF sun screens.

The one I use now is an SPF-110 spray on sunscreen from Banana Boat. I use it whenever we're headed to the boat or if I'm going to be outside for a few hours. I also ordered a wide-brimmed hat from Outdoor Research (http://www.outdoorresearch.com) that has an SPF of 50. It's $39 on their website but I found it online at $31.

Do yourselves a favor....use the sunscreen all the time and don't end up like us old gummers who are paying the price.
 
Gofirstclass said:
It seems this thread has accomplished what I intended it to do.....get all of us/you talking about skin cancers and getting appointments with a dermatologist. If you're like me, you grew up around the water and/or spent a lot of time outside playing in the sun. When I was a kid (50's and 60's) we didn't have sunscreen. Coppertone came along and for years it was the only thing out there. Then people began to realize how dangerous skin cancer could be and the market was saturated with low-SPF sun screens.

The one I use now is an SPF-110 spray on sunscreen from Banana Boat. I use it whenever we're headed to the boat or if I'm going to be outside for a few hours. I also ordered a wide-brimmed hat from Outdoor Research (http://www.outdoorresearch.com) that has an SPF of 50. It's $39 on their website but I found it online at $31.

Do yourselves a favor....use the sunscreen all the time and don't end up like us old gummers who are paying the price.
Click to expand...

GFC,

You are 100% right!! It's good to see people recognizing that they may be at risk and getting checked out. When I was growing up, late 60's to the 80's there was the basic coppertone stuff that was relatively ineffective. When I was in high school I used to clam on the Great South bay in the summer for spending $$. Being typical homophobic teens, none of us would ask the other guys to " Rub sunscreen on my back" LOL!! So instead we burned, peeled and repeated several times until the body started to tan. There in lies the foundation of my problems! The sprays that they have come up with really help to alleviate that issue because I don't think it would have been and issue to have my buddy spray the sunscreen on at that age!!
 
Wow, GFC, what a pertinent thread, I haven't been on for awhile so I just read all 6 pages....to say the least, very noble of you to post all of this,....as always, you are really living up to your signature, "Go First Class"....being fair skinned and having done of the those "bad sun things" as a kid, I am still in a little shock after reading this....thank you for starting this dialogue, I hope you are steadily feeling stronger and better, and good fortune to you going forward

D-Sill
 
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