At least now I know how I handle disconcerting news; I make a strong cup of tea and I eat chocolate."Yes," the doctor said of the little blighter he took off my face, "it is skin cancer - a basal cell carcinoma." The good news is that he got it all as the edges of the excised tissue were clear. The not so good news is that it will reoccur. Hmmm, I didn't realise that blemish patrol was going to be part of my future, so that we can whip the blighter's cousins off before they grumble for too long and cause disfigurement.
The blighter in question made itself resident on my face last September. From the start I thought it was a little odd. I don't usually have a dry patch similar to eczema around my nose. And it's not as if I don't take care of my skin. But this little sucker, as Canadians would say, turned into a little bump that persisted, went away with a good treatment of Vitamin E oil and then would reappear.
After a few months of this erratic behaviour and a consultation with my esthetician, I made an appointment with my doctor. On the morning of my appointment, the little blighter went into hiding. There was nothing to show and I cancelled the appointment. A few weeks later it was back but by then we were crazy busy and packing for South Africa.
Mom advised I see my doctor and further encouraged me with a scary story from one of her cancer clinic friends, where a small sore on the bridge of her nose cost her an eye and then even more. Seeing my aunt in hospital after complications related to skin cancer surgery sealed it for me. I was at the doctor's the week after we got home and the excisional surgery was scheduled for the end of April, two weeks later. It's just too bad it takes so long for the results to come in.
Now to go shopping for a big floppy hat to shield my face when we picnic at the beach. Oh ... and good-bye Provence ... we won't be retiring there.
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