Skin cancer

[eman]

Sitting here w/ a nickle sized hole burned into my face right in front of my `ear because of skin cancer. Yes i wear sunscreen and a hat.
But back in the day before we knew as much as we do now it was coconut oil and the beach every weekend and sun at work every day.
My doc told me as she was burning my face that this was damage from 20 - 30 years ago.
once this heals (4-6 ) weeks i go back and see if they got it all.

It may be to late for us old guys but it's never to late to start wearing SPF 35 or greater sunscreen . wear a buff, wear a cap w/ the cape to cover your neck and ears.
Yea i have heard the yuks about the buffs and caps . but i would rather someone laugh at what I'm wearing than laugh because i am missing an ear or the side of my face. Think about it!

[swamp snorkler]

Great advice, the advancement in skin protection clothing has come a long way. When I first started as an ironworker I would take off my long sleeves every chance I got. The old guys kept them on. I asked them why and one old man said you ever seen a man walking in the desert with shorts and a tank top? I told him no, he said that's why I dont my long sleeve shirt off, keeps you cooler and protects you from the sun.

[duckman1911]

Hope it comes out good man. I need to be less stubborn about sun protection. Hell I need to be less stubborn about most things.lol

[irokcj5]

A few years ago I started wearing wide brim hat, long sleeves and long pants. Now that I kayak fish, I add fishing gloves and a face buff. With all that gear on, I don't ever feel any hotter than when I wore short sleeves and shorts. No more sun burns and better protection from bugs without dousing myself with chemicals. I'll be praying for a good outcome for you bud! God Bless!

[Bumfisherman]

My wife was diagnosed with melanoma at 28. After surgery at MD Anderson and several other surgeries, she has finally been released from MD Anderson. 4 checks a year from dermatologist from now on unless it comes back. Serious ****!! Wear your sunscreen!

[BessFishHound]

Wishing all goes weel for you.

[marshrunner757]

Hope all goes well. Scary stuff for sure.

[Gerald]

I will share my resent surgery pictures in hopes that some of you will benefit.

I have had this "growth" for about 2 years. It started out small but slowly grew bigger.... which bothered me and my wife.

The Dermatologist I was going to said it was just a skin freckle and nothing to worry about, which may have been the case..... but things do change.

This Dr. retired and I had a checkup about a month ago with a new guy. The new Dermatologist saw this and said he wanted to cut a sample to have it tested. If you look close, you can see just above the dark area where the sample was cut out. Test came back positive and I had surgery to remove it. The area was almost the size of a quarter and the "cut" area was a little larger..... just over an inch.

Healing process is going very good but will take a month or so longer to get back close to normal. The second pic is showing the temporary stiches while waiting for results of Lab test to be sure all the cancer was cut out.

Final stiching was done on the second day, after Lab results confirmed all the cancer was cut out. Third picture is 10 days later during the check-up office visit.

As other said..... stay out of the sun as much as possible and cover up when you are outside.

.

[swamp snorkler]

You need a cool story to go with that scar now.....

happy to see you recovering.

[Duffy.yyz]

Gerald,

You look like George W.