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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 9, 2020 20:46:05 GMT
I’ve had a lump of ear removed which was cancerous and a bit of nose which wasn’t.
Now they are treating my scalp for pre cancerous growths and it bloody hurts.
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Post by whatagain on Aug 9, 2020 21:42:19 GMT
Keep the fight.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 9, 2020 22:34:38 GMT
Oh, Mick -- I'm so sorry. That must be miserable. Is there nothing they can do to make it less painful?
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Post by questa on Aug 10, 2020 2:07:38 GMT
Good man. Stick with it...I have 10-15 frozen off each year...the pre-cancerous stage, and every couple of years, a basal cell carcinoma gets sliced out and examined. So far we have caught them all but my d-i-law had a horrid melanoma in her leg which would have killed her except my son nagged her into an early examination and surgery.
Top of the ear is a very frequent place for men, also side of face,back of the hand and lower arm. If your traffic drives on the left the lesion will most likely be on your right side &v/v as that is where the sun comes in.
Stats indicate that everyone who is over 45 and grew up here has "bits" that need treatment before they turn nasty. Had a check lately?
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Post by bjd on Aug 10, 2020 5:28:43 GMT
Not good news, Mick. Maybe you should start wearing a wide-brimmed hat when you go out in the sun? I imagine skin cancer rates will start rising in the UK with the hotter weather from climate change. Especially since people seem to rush to the beach or lie in the sun as soon as it gets warm.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 10, 2020 5:53:43 GMT
Since my biological father died of melanoma (in 1980), I have avoided the sun like poison since then. I've been to the dermatologist about every 4 years and she finds all of the various spots on my body totally normal, although she humours me and burns off a few of them each time.
I had a pretty big blotch on my forehead a number of years ago and discovered that my brother had one in the exact same place. It was not considered serious, but my dermatologist burned it off. The scab caused an alarmed reaction at the office for a few days until I explained why it was there. When the scab disappeared, there was a minor trace of the blotch remaining but it finally disappeared all by itself with the renewal of skin cells.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 5:55:50 GMT
In a sense it is good news because nothing cancerous has been found and they are removing anything that might be a future problem.
Been wearing a wide brimmed hat for some years now.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 5:57:40 GMT
Oh, Mick -- I'm so sorry. That must be miserable. Is there nothing they can do to make it less painful? It’s very short term. It’s been treated with a special cream and I was told to expect it so it must be doing me good!
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 6:01:21 GMT
I had a full check over 4 weeks ago which is why I’m having this treatment now questa.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 10, 2020 6:01:29 GMT
Sorry to hear that you're suffering meduck. Sounds very sore, altho of course I'm glad it's not cancerous. Sending virtual hugs xxx
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 6:19:58 GMT
Thanks Cheery. Appreciated. Xx
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Post by mossie on Aug 10, 2020 7:21:04 GMT
At various times I have had bits hacked out of my face and at the back of an ear, plus some bits frozen off my face. These I attribute to an old war wound sustained in the Muddle East when I was a stupid youngster. We were advised to build up a good tan starting with 20 minutes sunbathing at a time, sun cream had not then been heard of.
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Post by htmb on Aug 10, 2020 12:32:42 GMT
Mick, back in November, I had to start a course of effudex cream on my face. It wasn’t any fun, but at least the weather was cool. The good news was that when my doctor checked me this spring she couldn’t find anything that needed to be frozen off. The treatment was a total success. Hopefully that will be the case with you.
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Post by questa on Aug 10, 2020 12:46:03 GMT
I was impressed with my Dr when first of all he checked tops and soles and in between toes.Lying down in the sun exposes feet
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 14:37:28 GMT
That's what I hope for htmb.
Wouldn't have thought of that questa!
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Post by tod2 on Aug 10, 2020 15:52:00 GMT
It's damn awful when these things appear on ones skin. For a very long time I felt a little scab on the hard cartilage on my one ear. I got my Dr to look at it thinking he would freeze it off but he sent me to a plastic surgeon who specialises in this sort of thing. A huge fee later she said she wanted to take skin from behind my ear and graft it on the patch where the scab was. She showed me in great detail what she wanted to do. I thanked her and said I'd be in touch. Never went back and from rubbing some special cream on it, it just faded away. Whew!!
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Post by mich64 on Aug 10, 2020 19:31:41 GMT
Hoping the painful part of the process is coming to completion Mick. Glad you are being treated and cared for.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2020 20:22:42 GMT
Thanks mich. not sure the current very hot weather is helping. Back Thursday for a repeat.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 10, 2020 21:42:44 GMT
I think that hot weather exacerbates fear about ailments often related to hot weather. Why won't the sun just stop shining?
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Post by mich64 on Aug 11, 2020 2:52:23 GMT
It is difficult to keep out of the hot sun right now here as well Mick, I do my best to stay in the shade but do love cooling off in the lake! Hope the weather cools down a bit to give you a chance to put this behind you.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 11, 2020 11:53:04 GMT
My optometrist once told me that no South African (or Australian) should ever go out in sunny days without wearing sunglasses. She said cataracts were a direct result of the eye trying to protect itself. I wear sunglasses all the time. My last visit revealed I would have to have another laser treatment in a few years as there was a small cataract forming.
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Post by questa on Aug 12, 2020 0:17:33 GMT
Apart from cataracts there is a more common condition called pterygium where the unprotected eyes grow a layer over the white of the eye to protect itself. My brother did a lot of sailing and teaching sailing before sunglasses became polarised. Had his first op to remove the growths when he was 24. The growths form the shape of "wings"...hence the name
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Post by lagatta on Aug 12, 2020 2:28:47 GMT
Tod, does that include Indigenous South Africans and Australians, or only those of European descent, who have less melanin?
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Post by tod2 on Aug 12, 2020 9:27:04 GMT
Lagatta - It is all of us. I am South African born in Kenya of European -Dutch and British descent. I am very fair skinned but I don't think that has to do with the eyes. Maybe, who knows? The Bantu nations that are South Africans have huge amounts of cataracts, which means it most probably is not a melanin issue. Not only that but the white part of their eyes is mostly a beige or brown colour due to the simple fact they are exposed to smoke from wood fires in their homes. Years of exposure has stained the white of the eyes. I notice this phenomena is not so prevalent in the younger generation who now live in mostly electrified houses or huts.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 12, 2020 21:44:19 GMT
Apart from cataracts there is a more common condition called pterygium where the unprotected eyes grow a layer over the white of the eye to protect itself. My brother did a lot of sailing and teaching sailing before sunglasses became polarised. Had his first op to remove the growths when he was 24. The growths form the shape of "wings"...hence the name This extremely interesting to me, Questa. Until I moved here, I never saw that condition, but it seems to be fairly common in this population, where it's called " "carnosidad". I just googled pterygium in spanish and the answer was "pterigión", just as in the linked article. Honestly, until I read your post, I had thought it was something specific to the population here.
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Post by questa on Aug 13, 2020 1:16:54 GMT
I checked with a couple of medical texts (then lost them!) but they gave the causes as smoke, dust, wind, pollen and distance living from the equator...Sun's rays. Indigenous custom was to sit in a small smoky fire to keep mosquitoes etc away. Combined with the other factors, the groups out on their 'country'do have more eye issues than those who live in towns. I love discovering origins of words, and "carnosidad" certainly didn't relate to 'wings'. That big fat Carn sat there saying "MEAT" so I chased it down to find that the non-medical name for pterygium in your neck of the woods is "Fleshiness of the eye"...not a 'wing' in sight (sorry)
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 13, 2020 2:05:41 GMT
Ha! Yes, sort of like "a fleshness", rather than fleshiness. Of the people I've known here who had the condition, most if not all were from the city. Tod, that thing of the whites of the eyes being dark is not specific to the Bantu. Many African-Americans have it also. www.aao.org/eye-health/ask-ophthalmologist-q/brown-blotchy-sclera
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 13, 2020 8:31:28 GMT
Return to hospital this morning. They are pleased with the progress and I had the second course of treatment meaning cream spread over my scalp, face and ears. I now have to be in the daylight for 2 hours for it to take effect then wash off.
Then tomorrow the pain starts....
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Post by whatagain on Aug 13, 2020 8:38:13 GMT
Keep the cataracts going, then eye surgeons are busy and i can go on holiday.
We are producing electrochromic glass that automatically darkens when hit by the sun and therefore protects.
Product is made in Minnesota by Sage Electrochromics.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 13, 2020 8:51:11 GMT
Good luck this morning Mick...xxx
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