Skin Cancer

I would like to share an experience I had recently with my IDA family. A few months ago I had a small sore on my nose that would not go away it would almost heal up and then I would bump it when washing and it would start bleeding again. My wife bugged me enough that I finally made an appointment with my doctor to have it looked at. My doctor recommended that I see a dermatologist. The dermatologist did a biopsy on my nose and treated some other spots on my face and the back of my left hand. The dermatologist told me that spots on the back of the left hand are very common from hanging your arm out the window while driving. I do not remember the correct terminology but the treatment I got that day for my hand and face was kind of like freeze dying the spots, and yes it is painful. The biopsy came back positive and the doctor recommended Mohs Surgery, basically what they do is cut a layer of skin at time, test it for cancer if it comes back positive they take another layer and test it again until they get all the cancer. Luckily for me they only had to take two layers until the test came back negative, I have to go back in 6 months for a check up and then yearly visits after that. As you can see from the pic I had to have a few stitches to patch me up, not very pretty but I was lucky as allot of people have larger areas that need treatment. I know a co-worker that he and his wife both had the same surgery on there face, his wife had it the worst as it was a large portion of her face and her lips as well, very painful. I do not want to see anyone have to go through what I went through so please take care this fishing season and anytime you are out in the sun and take the proper precautions, use sun block and wear protective clothing your skin will thank you for it.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. A reminder of what can happen in the sun if we arent careful is always good. Heal up quickly.

Jason.

Thanks for the reminder about using protection from the sun. I hope you never have to deal with this again.

JIM

Thanks for sharing this Steve. Do you know what all we should look for as signs that it might be skin cancer? Hope and pray you have a speedy recovery.
Thanks, Bill

Dark spots on the skin can be one sign, if you have any question in your mind at all make an appointment with your dermatologist to be on the safe side.

Know all about it. Are oldest daughter of 17yrs. went through heck as well as the whole family. To get rid of the cancer she ended up loosing a baseball size piece of her calf, a scar from her knee to her groin area to remove the lymph nodes and 8 weeks of interferon treatments. This is very dramatic for a girl. She now makes visits every 3 mounths for a complete exam. This will last for another 3 years then the exams will be yearly.
My advise also, stay covered in the sun.

Steve, my back looks like someone did target practice on it. I think I have had 4 areas removed on my back from my foolish tanning days and to much sun in general. My areas were only dysplastic, but enough to have big areas cut out.

Being I spend so much time on the water I am at risk for skin cancer with my history. I wear a towel over my head while prefishing and then put a hat on. Everyone wonders why and after I explain it to them they know why. It is just a matter of time before I get a dysplastic mole on my face and believe me, I watch close.

If anyone has an odd shaped mole, one with irregular edges, different colors, painful or sore that won’t heal, by all means get it checked out. I have sent in two people to have moles checked out that I have identified after my experiences and both ended up having dysplastic cells and needed the mole and skin removed from around the area. Skin cancer is very cureable if caught early. Please check yourself!!

Steve,

Your picture should hopefully shock a few people into taking better precautions in the sun. Repeatedly putting on SPF 45 sun block and wearing a very large billed hat is extremely important to preventing skin cancer.

The guys who don’t wear a hat (or just a small baseball cap) without any sun block should take a long and close look at your picture.

I am glad you caught your skin cancer before it got any worst.

Dave Gulczinski

I can definitely relate to this post. In May of 2002 I had skin cancer (basil cell carcinoma) removed from my upper chest. My mother had skin cancer (melanoma) removed from the side of her nose in 2000. Since the time I was diagnosed I have had several moles and skin removed because they looked suspicious and will continue to do so every 6 months. As most, I worshipped the sun growing up because we did not know any better. I am now armed with tons of information on this subject and would like to share some with you today. First of all I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but if you are at risk for skin cancer or have had it in the past, a hat and sunscreen just does not cut the mustard. I have been told by my dermologist very little to no sun exposure is the best option for those at risk. Trust me that this is one of the hardest things for me to handle because I am such an outdoors person. My husband Wade and I are always trying to find ways to keep me outdoors but to be protected from the sun. Of course anyone can get skin cancer but you are at highest risk if: You have blonde/light hair, light colored eyes, fair complexion, had sunburns as a child and if you have skin cancer in your family. Unfortunately for me I am all of the above. Even though my mom getting cancer was extremely hard for me it opened my eyes to start being more smart about the sun. I have not had a “tan” in 3 years and try to keep my direct sun exposure to a minimum and always wear sunscreen if I do have to be in the sun. I was told that a high percentage of skin damage happens in our childhood years so now I know how to protect my daughter. Lastly if you have any skin that is dry, scaly and bleeds, moles that change color, shape or are very dark get it checked out! Most skin cancer is very curable if caught early. If anyone has any specific questions on this feel free to email me. Thanks for starting this post.

Tamara

Holy moly! I am making an appointment in the morning! Scared the beejeebees out of me! Have an unusual dark spot forming on nose and one on upper cheek! I too have spent countless hours in the sun with no protection. Thanks!

Steve, I have had two basil cells removed from my face as well. One from my cheek, and one from my eye lid. Annoying, but like you and others have said, it is curable if caught early. I hate cancer! I would never wish it on anyone! If in doubt, get checked out!
I wish you the best!
Tuck

I wish you good healing buddy! Thanks for sharing.

Looks like the subject has been pretty well covered. My problems were sun related from sitting in the boat too much, too long. Fair skinned like my Irish mother, I burned, peeled and burned some more. A dry, scaly section on the top of one ear developed into carcinoma and removal became necessary. Now it’s lots of blocker and broad brimmed straw hats. Those dry, scaly spots are nothing to ignore.

Charlie

So what the doctor said was from sticking your arm out the window while driving, what does that do?

Quote:

---

So what the doctor said was from sticking your arm out the window while driving, what does that do?

---

Sticking your arm out the window [arm resting on the door with the elbow and part of the arm out of the window] is being exposed to the sun while driving and spending alot of time in a boat when younger were the resons my Dad was told why he had skin cancer years ago. Also having the sun shining in the window is why he had skin cancer on his left side [the side of your face that is nearest the side car window] of his face. The sun is nothing to be taken lightly. With all the holes in the ozone now there are much stronger and dangerous rays coming through toward earth. It is best to use 45 sunscrean, wear light clothing including long sleeve shirts and a straw style hat. Do I do all of these things-no. But I also need to be carefull of the sun as skin cancer is in the family. So if you see me on the river someday with a new style of IDA hat shaped more like a straw hat you will know why. I already have purchased several of these type hats and hopefully I will be smart enough to wear them. Now all I need is an IDA logo on the hats to look more like fishy hats.
Thanks, Bill

Ever notice when you come in off the water your hotter than heck and its cooler on shore even though its the same temperature on the water as on land. I get hit with the sun from above and from it hitting the water and bouncing back at me getting a double dose on some days. When i was a kid i didn’t care but now i watch, like they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A big hat and a very good sunblocker is what im using now. Wade, wasen’t it your wife that had a problem with the sun and you asked what you could do for her when she was on the water, a suntarp on the boat etc?

SPF 30. It doesn’t look cool, but I think we’ve all outgrown that phase of our lives.

I start the season out with SPF 45 Sunblocker and rub it in so it doesn’t even show. Appy it several times through out the day. When you are on the water you get the sun twice as bad as it glares off the water onto your skin.

Thanks, Bill

thanks for the tips Steve and I hope thats all you have. Heal up and get well soon.

hi Steve,
good post and good discussion,
Just this morning I came home from my second Derm. appt. had my first a month ago. I did have the freezing spray on 7 to 8 areas my hands and 2 on my forehead. man did they all blister big time. the last 4 weeks had a cream theapy on a large area on my left temple and cheek, that she called pre=cancerous. no fun people. I lost my dad in 1996 to skin cancer coupled with leukemia.
there are now clothes for outdoor types like us that has an SPF factor in the clothes material and also gloves. lotion minimum is 30, but I go with 45 when outside, PERIOD.
thanks for the POST, Steve,
Jack….

Thanks for all the kind words guys, hopefully this post will prevent others from having to go through what I and others here have gone through.

I too had a trip to skin doctor and had some skin cancer spots removed just last month! Dr. said to use at least a lotion of 30 skin protection. I work ashaplt during the summer and fish so this summer from May til Sept/Oct there will be sun tann lotion on me, hands, arms, face!!

I went in today and had a growth removed from my arm. The dermatologist said that I had skin cancer. Will know more in the following weeks. I would like to thank Steve for sharing this with all of us and also remind everyone to get checked for this.

Ron

Quote:

---

Wade, wasen’t it your wife that had a problem with the sun and you asked what you could do for her when she was on the water, a suntarp on the boat etc?

---

That’s right. My wife Tamara has a post in this thread. Her ID is T1Blondie. She’s had a terrible time with this cancer crud. We did put a bimini top on the boat which helps some. She also wears a ton of sunscreen and a big hat. She rarely even wears shorts anymore. It’s a bum deal. Cancer bites, period.

Steve, Ron, Jack, Chris and others, I hope all goes well for you guys. Best of luck!

Quote:

---

It’s a bum deal. Cancer bites, period.

You got that right. I had a melanoma 2 1/2 years ago. Problem was, it was in my left eye. It took 3 doc’s to find one that believed me when I said I had a vision problem….the other3 kept insisting I probably had MS. Freakin’ morons! The recommended treatment was to go to the hospital, have them open the eyeball, put radioactive plaque on the melanoma, sew it back up, lay inan isolated room for 10 days, no company because it was too hazardous a level of radiation), then go back and tkae out the plaque……and have blurry double vision until I got so preturbed by it that I’d have the eye removed. I told the Doc that Ididn’t think radioactive anythingbelonged that close to what little brain I had, anymore than the melanoma belonged there. And as long as it was all contained in the eye at this point, ultrasound showed it started within the eye, and was still contained in it, to just take it out. The Doc thought I was more polish than I am, and tried to explain that it couldn’t be removed without damaging the sight……..I told him I wasn’t talking about removing the melanoma, remove the damned eye. Cripes, get out the melon baller, or whatever you use, and get the damned thing out. So, 2 days later, 1 hour surgeryand I went home in time for supper. Got a dandy little replacement one……..although hubby wanted the guy to make the new one like a mood ring…he wanted all the “storm warning alert” he could get………..but no go. And life goes on.

June

I have had a mark on my left arm for several years. First it looked kind of like a pimple with being red with a white area in the middle. Now it looks like a shiny smooth area. Its not very big. Any idea what it might be? What does skin cancer look like?
Thanks, Bill

Bill, go to your doc and check it out. There are several types of skin cancer, ranging from dry spots to sores that won’t heal. Not worth taking a chance!
John

Bill,
GO IN. Mine looked kind of like you described. I was told not to worry and it should be an easy fix. The C-word really makes you think when it is you that has it.

Ron

Bill,

Here are some Skin Cancer Images

And here’s the website for The Skin Cancer Foundation

Do go see you’re doc if you think you may have it. Better to get it early than late of course.

Quote:

---

I told him I wasn’t talking about removing the melanoma, remove the damned eye. Cripes, get out the melon baller, or whatever you use, and get the damned thing out. So, 2 days later, 1 hour surgeryand I went home in time for supper. Got a dandy little replacement one……..although hubby wanted the guy to make the new one like a mood ring…he wanted all the “storm warning alert” he could get………..but no go. And life goes on.

June

---

June, It’s good that you can keep your humor during such a difficult time. By the way, I’ll bet your hubby already knows how to tell when you’re in a bad mood. He just turns around to see if your foot is in his !