My Story

This is the story about how I got acquainted with Basal Cell Carcinoma...skin cancer. Several years ago I got a bump on my forehead. I thought it was a pimple at first. It never completely went away and I had a little bit of a bump in that area. I didn't really think much of it. Once in a while (maybe once a year) it would get irritated when I was doing something (like scrubbing my face). It would get red and then after a few days the redness would go away. A few months ago it started bleeding/getting irritated every couple of weeks or so. I had an appt with my dermatologist to have a mole reevaluated and I pointed out this spot to her. She could hardly see it because it was not red at all on this day, but she took a biopsy and asked me a lot of questions. She thought that it was either Basal Cell Carcinoma or a cyst. I wore a band-aid on my face for a couple weeks, then got the call that is was indeed BCC. I was really shocked and scared. Then I do what most of us do when we have a new health problem...I went to Google. As I read more about it, my spot really did fit the characteristics (just not all the time). This kind of skin cancer is hardly ever life-threatening and grows slowly (in most cases). It is cancer though and is destroying the skin in that area and has to be removed.

I got a consultation set for the end of August. I had to meet with the surgeon who would be performing my Mohs Surgery. That is a procedure in which the surgeon removes how much skin he think is cancerous and then immediately checks it under a microscope. While the surgeon is doing that, you wait in the waiting room. If he still needs to remove more skin, you come back again...however many times is necessary to get rid of the cancer. This way is the best way to get all of the cancer and to remove the least amount of healthy skin. Sounds good, right? Except not that fun to think about it happening right on your forehead.  My consultation was quick. The surgeon explained everything I had already read about and a few new details. He was nice and extremely qualified. I felt like I was going to be in good hands.

I am really young to have BCC. I'm not sure why I got it and I hope to not have it again (although my chances are higher now that I have already had it). I am really good about using sunblock and I don't remember having many sunburns. I have gotten "pink" on my face in the past when I've been out in the sun (esp in my teens/early 20's). I will just have to continue wearing sunblock like I do now and hope that will keep me from getting this cancer again when I'm older. While I was in the waiting room the day I had my surgery, I was at least 40 years younger than all of the other patients. It was crazy!

This past Friday, I had my surgery. I had been really nervous the week leading up to it, but that morning God gave me peace. I felt very calm and knew He would get me through this. My in-laws came down from Michigan to stay with us for the weekend. I had been planning to go alone, but it was so nice that Curt could go with me instead of staying with the kids. We ended up being there about 5 hours. Normally they are able to get things done in 2-4 hrs. After all of the initial questions and numbing, the surgeon came in and quickly did the first removal. The nurse bandaged me up and sent me to a special waiting area for Mohs surgery patients and whoever they came with. It was FILLED up with lots of people. Many of us had bandages on our faces. They called my name again about 1.5 hours later and said they needed to remove more. My cancer had "fingers" that went deeper & were more spread out. I was prepared for this, but was hoping that it would just be the spot that was visible on my face.

In the end, I had to have 3 different removals with the area getting bigger each time. When I went back to finally be stitched up, the dr asked me if I wanted to see the spot. I said yes (mostly because I thought it would help me not be as freaked out about the stitches). It was huge...bigger than a quarter. He and the nurse both insisted that it was "small" and I said I didn't want to see what "big" looks like. Since I don't have any wrinkles to hide the scar, he said the best thing would be to make a straight line. I checked out the stitches when the dr was finished. He did three layers of stitches...the top one will dissolve in a week and the other two will take two months. It was a long line probably 1.25-1.5 inches. And if I'm honest...I thought it looked horrible, but much better than the open wound on my face. :) It is amazing to me how something so small of the surface can be causing so much damage underneath.

I'm going to keep taking some pictures to document the healing from my surgery. I know that it will probably take up to a year for the scar to fade. I didn't put any pictures of the stitches on this post. I have showed a few people, but I'll give it some more time to heal under the bandage. :)  This is not a journey that I wanted to take, but God is giving me the courage to get through it. I'll have a scar forever, but I'm so thankful that the dr was able to remove all of the cancer and I can move forward with my healing.

 This is a picture I had Curt take about a week before the surgery. The spot is on my forehead (a little over to the right side of this picture, by my eyebrow). It has actually been a lot more noticeable since my biopsy in July. It healed a little more red after the biopsy.

I took this picture on the way home with my phone. I was worn out, sad, and a little dizzy. It was nice that Curt was there to drive me home. The bandage is big...it is covering up a mess of stitches that I know will look better in time. :)