Getting some action!

Woo, I"m getting some action! Some dermatological action that is.

You know the expression "when the cat's away the mice will play"? Well, this mouse knew that her regular GP was on vacation this week, so I went to his temporary replacement (a doctor I've seen before and like) and asked her to refer me to another dermatologist. Remember that my GP discouraged me to get a second opinion? That was why I went to the clinic in Detroit. But now I need a dermatologist here who can carry out the instructions from the visit to the clinic (further care to the original BCC lesion, and 3 more lesions removed for biopsy). So temp GP referred me to a dermatologist she said was fantastic, but it could be quite a wait to see him. I agreed because I was hoping he was well worth the wait. Before I left the doctor's office I cancelled my Dec. 3rd surgery appointment with the clinic's dermatologist, having decided that I would now wait for the new dermatologist. It was a risky decision, but I didn't want Derma #3 to cut me up anymore!

Well my friends, I got lucky, because I saw the GP on Monday, she faxed the referral that day, and I got a call yesterday from the Dermatologist's clinic (we'll call him Derma #4) saying they had a cancellation and I could come in today. So I jumped at the opportunity!

So, today I was eager for my appointment, and was trying to not expect too much from Derma #4. I could walk to the clinic as it was near work, and although I had to wait a half hour to see Derma #4 once I got there, I was patient (ha ha ha) since at least this appointment was so much sooner than I expected. [I heard the receptionist today on the phone saying that new referrals were booking into February]. Anyway, here's the outcome of my appointment: Derma #4 was pretty good, he actually had a dermatoscope (and used it!) and now I have an appointment NEXT WEEK for the removal and biopsy of the 3 lesions as recommended by the Detroit clinic. Woohoo! Glad I cancelled that December 3rd appointment now.

So, here's the weird part that I don't want you to get all upset about. So, before we go on, please promise me in your head that you're not going to freak out. OK. Thanks. So, he also recommended that instead of doing further surgery on the original BCC site, he wants to kill the remaining cancerous cells in that area with chemotherapy. OK, so I know how that word sounds - scary right? - but it's really OK. Really! Its just a topical chemotherapy (a cream) that we do at home, put on and left on for exactly 8 hours once a day for two weeks, then off for two weeks, then on again for two weeks. It's a really new treatment for BCC and I'm interested in trying it. So I have the meds and tonight will be day #1 of week #1. [Despite my appreciation for the care I got in the US, I am grateful for my company's benefit plan which covered 100% of the cost of this expensive treatment, and I'm assuming that would probably not be the case in the US.]

After I've used it for a few days, I'll post back on how it feels, and also post a picture of the lesion as it gets barraged with chemicals. Wish me luck!

The Visit to the Clinic

Hello everyone!

So it's now November 9th, which means that yesterday I went to the Karmanos Cancer Clinic in Detroit. I went there primarily for a second opinion and a full skin evaluation from a skin cancer specialist (as opposed to a regular dermatologist).

Karmanos Cancer Centre, Detroit MI

The visit was exactly what I expected and what I had hoped for from dermatologists here in Canada. Here's a summary of the visit:

1. The doctor reviewed all my previous dermatological files BEFORE my appointment.
2. She explained BCC to me and also explained Dysplastic Nevi Syndrome, and the risks of associated with both disorders.
3. She gave me informative pamphlets on these skin issues - and I know that must sound pretty trivial, but to have something in hand when you're being told about a health concern, it's great to have something tangible to look at, sanctioned by your doctor, instead of searching for information for yourself on the internet.
4. She took more than a half hour to look at every inch of my skin - after a resident doctor did an initial review.
5. For those moles and lesions that she thought were unusual with the naked eye, she used what she called a "dermatoscope" to look at them up close. The dermatoscope was a handheld microscope like thing that she put right against the skin to see a lesion up really close. She could also measure the size of each lesion with the same tool.
6. She told me that she would like to see three more lesions removed, and circled them for me, took pictures of them, and will send me a detailed report of all of her recommendations for me to bring to a dermatologist here. I could go to her clinic there, but the 4 hour drive to Detroit is BO-RING!
7. She is going to have the Karmanos Cancer Centre pathology unit review the pathology slides from the biopsies I've already had done, to make sure that they didn't miss anything.

So, all in all, you'd have to say "wow, now there's a thorough doctor's visit"! Despite the new lesions that need to be removed, I'm very positive about the outlook and I know that I did the right thing in getting a second opinion. For your entertainment, here are the photos of the lesions she wants me to have removed and biopsied. These are #1 and #2:

Numbers 1 and 2 on my back waiting for removal.

This is number #3 on the inside of my thigh, which all three dermatologists to date have disregarded:

Number 3 on my inner thigh (sexy!)

So these three will be removed hopefully within the next month and biopsied, and then all the other suspicious ones will be monitored; like this one on my foot:

This one looks to me like a freckle "in real life", but this is the second time a dermatologist wants to "keep an eye on it".

So, to sum everything up, I'm looking forward to having the three suspicious lesions removed and biopsied, and I'm thinking of trying to find a new dermatologist here in Toronto who has experience and expertise in skin cancers. This means if I see "wrinkles, botox and age spots treated here" on signs all over the doctor's office,  I'm in the wrong place. If I see gross pictures of gnarly looking skin lesions, I'm in the right place!!!!

I hope this experience has been educational for you as well as for me! Please be sure to look over your skin, no matter how old or young you are. We don't always fit into the "statistical norm". So if a doctor tells you, "you're too young to have XXX", get a second opinion!!! I'll keep you posted on the next biopsies, so stay tuned!



Tomorrow is "picture day"!

For those of you who have children, this is not the kind of picture day you're thinking of as I'll be more concerned about what I look like without clothes on than what I will actualy wear (although, knowing me, I'll try to put together a cute little outfit for the occasion.) My scars from the biopsies a few weeks ago seem to be healing nicely, and are now pretty much red blotches. The BCC one however, does still have some dryness in the area like it did before the biopsy. If you read about BCC and other skin cancers, that crusty layer is not a good sign. However, I've always had sensitive skin, so it could be just my healing process, or a reaction to the bandaids.

I'm eager for tomorrow's "photo shoot" as I know I will feel better when someone has taken a really close and thorough look at my skin all over my body. I had a lesion removed from my leg years ago, but no one has looked at my legs since then (well, not in THAT way at least!). I'm also hoping that if the technician sees something he doesn't like, then maybe that will speed up getting the skin cancer specialist to look at the photos. Currently I couldn't get an appointment until December 8th - that's 5 days AFTER my currently scheduled further surgery of my BCC site (to remove a "margin" of skin around the site and burn/cauterize the area too; she mentioned something about doing that three times. Sounds like fun!) Believe me, it's not painful and it's like fun time compared to the repeated colonoscopies I had as a tweenager (TMI??).

I'm going to bring my camera to the appointment tomorrow and see if they'll let me take a pic of the camera and/or any other instruments they use. I hope this clinic is as good as I expect them to be!!!!

So, for now, thank you for reading and I'll update you tomorrow! Now go take a good look at your skin!

The Post with the Pictures

Ok, I'm back. Hair is done and I went to work for a few hours, and now I'm back to the blog. Where was I in my rambling??? Oh, I think I was alluding to the fact that general practitioners sometimes don't have the energy, the time or the bedside manner that we would like. This leads me to a little history lesson about my skin. Lesson #1: I am not old. No matter what any 20 year old might tell you, I am not middle aged... yet! Lesson #2 As a child we frolicked in the sun and got sunburns, but hey, it was the 70s and who didn't? Lesson #3 As a child I was on immuno-suppressant drugs because of Crohn's disease. Apparently all of these facts should be of interest to a dermatologist, but didn't happen to be of interest to mine. Apparently too, these are common factors that make fair-haired, blue-eyed people like me even more at risk for skin cancer. Did my dermatologist tell me that? Nope.

Did I mention that this was dermatologist #3 that I've seen in the past 8 years? You'll see other dermatologists handiwork in the pictures below - there are some old scars next to my new scars. Can I tell you about my dermatologists? #1's name was Walter. That was also my dad's name, so I liked him immediately. Unfortunately he liked me too, and despite the fact that he could have BEEN my father, we spent the whole session talking about me (like a blind date!) instead of him looking at my skin. Sorry, Walter. Dermatologist #2 came highly recommended - so much so that you should expect to wait at least an hour for your appointment, and you'll have to stand as there were not enough seats. However, the most interesting part about Dermatologist #2 was that when you meet him, you think maybe HE's the one who should be seeing a dermatologist. Eek. Bad skin. However, I do give Derma#2 credit as he did diagnose me as having "dysplastic nevi syndrome", and although he didn't explain to me what it was, once I figured out how to spell it, google helped me learn all about it. Do you want to know what it is? Well I'm going to tell you anyway. Dysplastic nevi syndrome (from what I understand from my friends google and wiki) refers to a person having a high number of moles that are uneven in shape, size and colouring. Unfortunately, dysplastic nevi can also lead to skin cancer, or can mask skin cancers as they are dismissed as just another unusual mole. Anyway, is this boring you to tears? I'm sure it is. How about some pictures to make this more interesting???

Below, in this first picture you'll see the handiwork of Dermatologist #3. This actually is the site of what we recently came to know as the cancerous guy, BCC. But like the dermatologist said, "ah, you're too young, and it's no big deal". OK then! So here's my dear BCC site soon after its removal:

You'll notice to the left of dear BCC, the scar left by another handiman who years ago thought I had a skin lesion he didn't like. He warned me that he wasn't the best at soutures, thus the obvious scar! The picture below is the dear BCC site a day or two before the stitches came out - and before we knew he was bad. Well, really, I don't fault him, he is what he is, and he does what he does. But the site still doesn't look healthy to me!

Now the next two pictures show you a few other marks that look just like the ones I had removed. When I was told that I would need to come back for more surgery to my original BCC site, I asked if she would remove these guys too, since they don't look good. Her answer? Let's see what they look like in two months. Don't you think that's a GREAT PLAN? Let's let them grow bigger and then see if there's something wrong with them. Not to mention that they look like their BCC buddy, so you know what, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Take em off, I don't care about scars (see my first post for confirmation of this statement). Take a peek:

I call this one "No one likes the new guy..."

 "...or his friends"

Can you see another scar below this last guy? Bottom left. More handiwork from that doctor years ago who didn't like the look of something.

To get back to last Thursday, the day I was told that I had BCC, needless to say I was frustrated by the doctor, and cranky that it's really true that in this day and age you need to be your own advocate. Trust me everyone, you know your body better than anyone else. If you feel something or see something that's not normal for you, go get it checked out! Also, when you get cranky and find out you have BCC, you are allowed to eat all the cheese you want. I had cheese on a baguette followed by cheese on pasta, followed by cheesies (the crunchy kind thank you). I'm sure that somewhere is some skin cancer documentation this is the first official step to dealing with BCC: pigging out on cheese.

So what am I going to do next on this journey? Well, I'm going to have a high-tech mole mapping thingy done on Wednesday. I'm not waiting until my surgery in December thank you very much. Although this high-tech procedure isn't covered by OHIP I think it's worth it. From what I understand they take high-tech images of the various parts of your skin, and from these pics there's a chance at early detection of atypical skin cells. Good to note as well that just because buddy #1 is BCC doesn't mean that the others couldn't be another type of skin cancer (there are 3 from what I understand), or they might be nothing at all. But for my own peace of mind, I'm getting things looked at closely. The worst part of all of this is the waiting, and the prospect of waiting another 7 weeks for anything to happen is going to drive me bonkers.

So until next time my friends, take care of your skin and make sure to check it over once in a while for irregularities. And since none of us can see our own back, taking pictures isn't a bad idea so that you can keep track for yourself. I'll post back again soon, and tell you all about the high-tech picture thingy.

; )

The First Post

So this is it. The beginning of my blog. What could I possibly be writing about, and why on earth do I think that anyone might want to read it? To tell you the truth, I don't care if anyone reads it. It's just that ever since this journey started (well at least the first bump in the journey) a few weeks ago, I've been wanted to express myself. Thank you Madonna, hey hey hey.

So the look, the title and everything else is just a first kick at the can until I get the hang of this. My BFF, we'll call her "W" (for things such as wonderful, woman etc.) started a blog almost a year ago (at my behest, if I do say so myself) and she's done a great job at it. Her blog though, makes you hungry. Really hungry. And it makes me look at my dinner (when I have to make it myself) and say, ho hum. My blog however, will not make you hungry, unless you are some sort of sicko. Hopefully my blog will make you take a closer look at yourself.... in particular, your skin.

Thus the title, Getting Under My Skin. This is not going to be a bitch and complain blog, no list of things that tick me off (well, maybe once in a while?), but more about knowing your skin, the largest organ in your body! I'll start at the beginning, but for now, I will say the following words of wisdom: Don't Worry! Got it? Don't worry. So, now that we've got that sorted out, I will tell you that last Thursday I was told I had BCC. Another acronym to throw around, BCC. Basal Cell Carcinoma. Now, remember, I told you NOT TO WORRY. This is no big whoop. Most of all, it's not on my gorgeous face, so it's really of no imminent concern!!!! I mean really, if it were on my face, as vain and superficial as I am, this would be a disaster. But its on my back. And since my bikini wearing days ended when I was potty trained, I'm not too worried about more sun exposure or scars. Besides, I think scars are awesome. My friend was told that he looked like the singer Seal, and I thought that was awesome. That guy is cool. I don't know how he got his scars on his face, but they are very cool.

Anyway, over the past few years I've had 10 pieces of skin removed, mostly on my back. Two weeks ago, I had 3 removed; two on my back and one, as I told my mother, over the thing that rhymes with "dipple". 10 stiches and two weeks later, the dermatologist tells me oh so non-chalantly, "You have basal cell carcinoma, but don't worry, we don't see it this young." I'm sorry, but I'm not following your logic. Anyway, this whole meeting was a disaster, because not only did she not give me any information on BCC, and dismissed two other skin lesions that look like the one that is BCC, when we got home (my hubby came with me), we realised that when she took out the stitches, she FORGOT one. Hello?????? Ok, so let's sum up this visit (which I worried about for over a week since I knew, I just knew, that something wasn't right): "Hi, oh, you have BCC, so let's take out your stitches. OK, so come back in two months for some surgery on that BCC, and don't worry about the other lesions, you're too young. See ya!"

There's so much more that I want to write, but darlings, I have a hair appointment! Hair trumps blog. Sorry! I'll be back later to tell the rest of the story - yes, there's more!!! I'll even post pictures of the wounds, just to keep this interesting.

Peace Out!