Beap52 782 #1 Posted June 7 The saga continues. I've written over the past several months about Erma's health issues. This week we took her to a cancer facility to remove basal carcinoma from behind her ear. I've been telling neighbors that mom has a funny patch of skin about the size of a silver dollar. She showed it to me early last fall and complained it itched. I assumed it was a skin rash or something not thinking about cancer. Mom had went to her general doctor who gave her some salve to put on it. As some of you remember, she had surgery go wrong and in now in assisted living. This week the doctor was to remove this cancer. It has taken since last fall for the doctors to finally diagnose that it was cancer--in part due to her health issues and then the doctor postponing her appointments a time or two. Below is the picture of the area the doctor designated at what was needing to be removed. Obviously, this is larger than silver dollar and after the surgery, it was larger than he had originally marked out. It ended up being 3 inched in diameter and he removed all of the flesh to her skull. I thought about posting the picture of the actual results of the removal of flesh but it's a little to graphic for a lot of folks. Reason for posting is because what we thought was a simple skin rash and left undiagnosed for a year or more can result in turning into a major health issue. Mom has encouraged me to share her journey because if we had jumped on this sooner she wouldn't be facing 1 to 3 months of weekly trips to doctor to change dressing and have a large bald spot on her head. She will have her head wrapped in the athletic tape holding a patch over her wound. It is not fun! I was talking to nurse at cancer center explaining that mom's general doctor didn't pick up on the fact she had cancer. The nurse said that they can do a full body exam for skin cancers as part of medicare covered prevention. She noted that because they are a specialists that there might an additional personal expense not fully covered by insurance or medicare. I'm going to look into that for myself. Most of us on this site are likely to have been exposed to cancer caused by years of sun exposure. Mom's sun exposure was mainly due to years and years of helping dad run the farm and her countless hours on a tractor working crops. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rjg854 11,328 #2 Posted June 7 I'll remember her in my 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pfrederi 17,627 #3 Posted June 7 I go every year to the dermatologist office Covered mostly by Medicare... The PA does a whole body check and burns off 2-3 precancerous spots most times Best thoughts and wishes for your mom... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8ntruck 6,969 #4 Posted June 7 I've had several suspect moles removed over the years, and like @pfrederi, have a yearly full body scan. Multiple myeloma got my oldest sister, and my other sister is in remission after a long fight. Best to catch things early. Don't be shy. If something seems wrong, see a doctor. If you don't like the answer from the first doctor, see another for a second opinion. Thoughts for your mom. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky-(Admin) 21,271 #5 Posted June 9 I’ve had four skin cancer removal procedures. No more being outside without sunscreen for me. Just graduated from a full body scan/check every three months to 6 month intervals Hope your mom heals up well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
