WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2021

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  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,585 Member
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    Hhhhh
  • euchre35
    euchre35 Posts: 7 Member
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    Hi Barbie - Bear0011 from Spark - glad to see this discussion and a friend!
  • grandmallie
    grandmallie Posts: 9,735 Member
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    Katla well we are both having grandsons ...
  • exermom
    exermom Posts: 6,364 Member
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    Bear 0011 (euchre) - welcome!

    Michele NC
  • Anniesquats100
    Anniesquats100 Posts: 3,067 Member
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    I did my dumbbells again. Yay!

    Annie in Delaware
  • pipcd34
    pipcd34 Posts: 16,585 Member
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    iq8i6sjsct4e.jpeg
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 16,947 Member
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    euchre35 wrote: »
    Hi Barbie - Bear0011 from Spark - glad to see this discussion and a friend!

    :) Welcome. I hope you will keep coming back to this thread and join the conversation. Before long you will feel that you have many new friends. Spark People was fun, but I really love MFP and this thread especially.
  • GodMomKim
    GodMomKim Posts: 3,637 Member
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    B)
  • klt052194
    klt052194 Posts: 57 Member
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    dlfk202000 wrote: »
    klt052194 wrote: »
    Debbie, Thank you for the welcome. Call me KP, nickname since high school. From Sunrise Beach, Missouri, US, on the Lake of the Ozarks.
    Also has beautiful sunsets.e1978501n7o6.jpg

    That picture is BEAUTIFUL!!!
    My dad is from Missouri but I have never lived there- one of my nieces lives back there now.

    Debbie
    Napa Valley,CA

    I'm originally from Chicago, but lived a bunch of places. Thank you for the photo compliment. Napa Valley is also awesome. ✌
  • Whidislander
    Whidislander Posts: 3,482 Member
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    auntiebk wrote: »
    "Get to do"s and "chose well"s
    Chose well: take BP,
    Bonus: stroll with T and Shadow, lovely vegan lunch with same, YouTube Fern Canyon hike.
    Get to do: take BP, dogs to powerline, finish minutes, laundry, veg prep, flagger course progress, figure out how to see what’s using all our mobile data, USE those torture bands/do that BB&B video, call S, fire district: research NFPA, grant NIMS requirements, ongoing: input 2019 call sheets into NFIRS, work with chief on equipment letter, substance abuse policy, NFIRS mutual aid and other missing details, likewise Lee skills/tasks, ask for boots donator contact info, appreciation letter or certificate to boots donator, index mutual aid files; watch STAS Day 20, declutter sideboard, learn new dances (Tequila Little Time, Homesick, Nothing but You, A Little Less Broken, Blame it on my beating heart,; Do Your Thing, practice dances: One Margarita, I’m so used to being broke, All Night, Pure Movies to Wine, Beer, Whiskey, I ain’t never gonna love nobody but Cornell Crawford (Alley cat),); finish mulching flowerbed, invest another 10 minutes in prepping living trust, Freddie’s for complete series TDAP <$48, get Shingrix vaccine, find and configure a screen time popup, figure out where to plant the last of the naked lady bulbs, and soon as it warms up above 50 and dries out below 60% humidity I’ll tape and spray paint those rusted areas of Aunt Elsie’s stove, ask Te about GB’s FD firetruck tax levy – contacts, media, advocate???, Reward: inventory seeds, plan this fall’s garden, wishlist replenishments (Milena F1 orange peppers and beit alpha cukes next year).
    August
    19: Be thankful for your food and the people who make it possible. Amen!

    Tracey :love: that grandson and his Viking hat/beard.
    Evelyn thank goodness our vermin are smaller and less aggressive than raccoons. Have a looong story about our Wheaten’s fight with a raccoon, the short of it is she ended up at 24 emergency vet at 4 am for 5 puncture wounds around her snout. We were thankful the raccoon missed her eyes. Congrats for passing on the strata’s secretarial torch!
    Machka your comments about skimming uni notes, amen. Wish I’d known then what I do now . . . but I guess good judgement comes from experience… which comes from poor judgment. :lol: Absolutely pet playtime counts as exercise when your chasing your cat chasing his ball.
    Allie Touched by an Angel was one of my faves. Does Alfie like to play tug? ConVERYgratulations on the good news!
    Margaret brava for getting better at setting boundaries (and for your hint to Drew :> ). Some men dislike small dogs because they’re afraid they’ll step on them and injure them permanently. Still no excuse not to respond to Drew’s overtures. I’m thinking of taking AARP’’s free hearing test to establish a base line, would your DH consider doing so?
    Pip you ROCK! :love: that Yogi.
    Katla you’re a better person than I am. I would ask Karma to bring him back not just as a cat, but as one of his victims with full knowledge of what was happening and who was doing it.
    Heather SMH at G. Is it her indecisiveness or is she just not ready to sell, cementing the life change?
    Rebecca love letter? :love:
    Debbie brava for getting back into Zumba!
    Annie cheerful teachers are welcome gifts these days.
    Welcome @euchre35!
    Terri hope the eye meds do their job and seeing gets back to normal soon.

    Julie, hooray for veggies and recumbent energy! The skin story, way too long.
    Dates are approximate and likely misremembered ;)
    My skin is fair for a light brunette, and always sunburned easily. Back when I was a teen, we laid out in the sun intentionally, even with baby oil to enhance the tan. I had several bad burns, two that actually blistered: one under my breasts from having the sun hit where it was normally shaded ;) and one on my shoulders from a cloudy day sitting on a dock between a pool and a lake.
    In the mid 80’s a white something sprouted at the end of my nose. Well-meaning friends would hand me a tissue, one even tried to wipe it off for me. :blush: Finally went to a grumpy old male dermatologist. Without really telling me what he intended to do, he stuck a needle in the end of my nose, presumably novocaine to numb it. The needle hurt so badly that tears spurted from my eyes. I tell this story to every young woman I hear talking about going to the tanning bed parlor. Sometimes I exaggerate a little and say “tears spurted out from my eyes and bounced off his glasses.” Biopsy: basal cell. Do not remember him recommending sunscreen, hat or any protective wear.
    In the late 90’s a zit appeared in the middle of my chin and would not go away nor heal. GP said he’d normally take it off for me but since it was “in the middle of your face” he referred me to a dermatologist. She numbed it with cream, then novacaine, and shaved of some to have biopsied. Think it was dx as basal cell. She referred me to the dermatological surgeon for Mohs surgery. That woman was a real artist. She cut along the wrinkle line around my chin to peel back a third of it to get to the spot. When it healed you could not tell there was a scar.
    This began a regime of twice yearly full body visual scans. The dermatologist (who took the biopsy) had a bit of a rocky bedside manner at first, and was a quick draw artist with that doggoned freeze gun, but eventually we established a good relationship. Good thing because a year or two later, another “zit” popped up on the side of my nostril. Biopsy: squamous. Back to the surgeon. This time she sliced along the wrinkle line between nostril and cheek, again, invisible. I did look like a pirate with the bandages and bruising until it healed, but all came out well.
    Finally in the mid 2000’s or early teens another zit popped up in the hairline just above my forehead. Biopsy: squamous again.
    Little to no visible scarring. Pics at bottom.

    The last three were all Mohs surgery, done on an outpatient basis. They gave me a twilight drug so I was “out there” while they did the onsite analysis. I don’t think they ever had to go back and remove more, but they might have. I did learn that I’m sensitive to the twilight-making drug “Halcyon.” It makes me unable to pee. Called the nurse and she said if I didn’t pee within the next X hrs to go to the ER to get catheterized. Yikes! Sitting on the pot, running the shower, holding my hand in the warm water-filled sink and visualizing rushing rivers did the trick. Whew!

    My hair cutter found something suspicious on the back of my scalp but the hot shot dermatologist advised it was just a “pink mole.”

    So no baddies for at least five years, maybe more. My current dermatologist said that meant I could revert to annual scans, but I’m sticking with every six months. Use it as an excuse to hit Trader Joe’s while I’m in the big city. ;)

    I truly hope you get results soon. I urge you to add 500 mg Niacinamide to your daily supplement regime. “In patients with sun-damaged skin, oral nicotinamide helped prevent the occurrence of nonaggressive skin cancers (11). . . .Other studies found a reduction in actinic keratoses, a predictor of melanoma risk (13) (21). Additional studies are warranted (14).” from: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/nicotinamide
    I have lots of keratoses and haven’t yet noticed a reduction, but perhaps there’d be even more if I didn’t take it ;)

    My thoughts are with you!

    2ebh2dq1ljin.jpg
    hzv6ffrwu6we.jpg



    Lighter, lovelies!
    f8qt1s098sxm.gifBarbara, the Southern Oregon Coastie AHMOD
    August: leaner/stronger/kinder than July.
    daily: sit with Joe: 17, weigh/wii: 19/0/0; steps>6704=6810 vits=18, log=19, CI<CO=18, CI<250<CO=14, Tumble=10, Shadow=18, mfp=20, outside=22, up hill=21, clean 10=6.
    wkly: Sun: Mon: Tue:LD YH=1, Wed:TC=2, PW=2. Thurs: Fri:TC=2. Sat:PW=2. rX x4=2.
    wt=1/31:141.3 2/28:142.4 3/31:145.3 4/30:141.5 5/31:142.4 6/30:141.5 7/31:140.2!!! 8/1:141.3 8/8:140.4 8/15:141.5 :rage:
    mnthly: board mtg=1, grant=, plan=, waist=42.0
    bonus: AF:11 play= sew=
    2021: choose to be leaner/stronger/kinder NOW

    Well Barbara, my letter from my husband was sent so I wouldn't go into pen pal withdrawal down here.😁. It was written like he was just talking to me. But as he used to do in letters when we were getting to know each other, he ended the letter with a cluster of hearts.💖 sweet.
    Rebecca
    Sipping red wine after a bowl of peaches and cream.🙃😁💖
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,943 Member
    Options
    auntiebk wrote: »

    Julie, hooray for veggies and recumbent energy! The skin story, way too long.
    Dates are approximate and likely misremembered ;)
    My skin is fair for a light brunette, and always sunburned easily. Back when I was a teen, we laid out in the sun intentionally, even with baby oil to enhance the tan. I had several bad burns, two that actually blistered: one under my breasts from having the sun hit where it was normally shaded ;) and one on my shoulders from a cloudy day sitting on a dock between a pool and a lake.
    In the mid 80’s a white something sprouted at the end of my nose. Well-meaning friends would hand me a tissue, one even tried to wipe it off for me. :blush: Finally went to a grumpy old male dermatologist. Without really telling me what he intended to do, he stuck a needle in the end of my nose, presumably novocaine to numb it. The needle hurt so badly that tears spurted from my eyes. I tell this story to every young woman I hear talking about going to the tanning bed parlor. Sometimes I exaggerate a little and say “tears spurted out from my eyes and bounced off his glasses.” Biopsy: basal cell. Do not remember him recommending sunscreen, hat or any protective wear.
    In the late 90’s a zit appeared in the middle of my chin and would not go away nor heal. GP said he’d normally take it off for me but since it was “in the middle of your face” he referred me to a dermatologist. She numbed it with cream, then novacaine, and shaved of some to have biopsied. Think it was dx as basal cell. She referred me to the dermatological surgeon for Mohs surgery. That woman was a real artist. She cut along the wrinkle line around my chin to peel back a third of it to get to the spot. When it healed you could not tell there was a scar.
    This began a regime of twice yearly full body visual scans. The dermatologist (who took the biopsy) had a bit of a rocky bedside manner at first, and was a quick draw artist with that doggoned freeze gun, but eventually we established a good relationship. Good thing because a year or two later, another “zit” popped up on the side of my nostril. Biopsy: squamous. Back to the surgeon. This time she sliced along the wrinkle line between nostril and cheek, again, invisible. I did look like a pirate with the bandages and bruising until it healed, but all came out well.
    Finally in the mid 2000’s or early teens another zit popped up in the hairline just above my forehead. Biopsy: squamous again.
    Little to no visible scarring. Pics at bottom.

    The last three were all Mohs surgery, done on an outpatient basis. They gave me a twilight drug so I was “out there” while they did the onsite analysis. I don’t think they ever had to go back and remove more, but they might have. I did learn that I’m sensitive to the twilight-making drug “Halcyon.” It makes me unable to pee. Called the nurse and she said if I didn’t pee within the next X hrs to go to the ER to get catheterized. Yikes! Sitting on the pot, running the shower, holding my hand in the warm water-filled sink and visualizing rushing rivers did the trick. Whew!

    My hair cutter found something suspicious on the back of my scalp but the hot shot dermatologist advised it was just a “pink mole.”

    So no baddies for at least five years, maybe more. My current dermatologist said that meant I could revert to annual scans, but I’m sticking with every six months. Use it as an excuse to hit Trader Joe’s while I’m in the big city. ;)

    I truly hope you get results soon. I urge you to add 500 mg Niacinamide to your daily supplement regime. “In patients with sun-damaged skin, oral nicotinamide helped prevent the occurrence of nonaggressive skin cancers (11). . . .Other studies found a reduction in actinic keratoses, a predictor of melanoma risk (13) (21). Additional studies are warranted (14).” from: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/nicotinamide
    I have lots of keratoses and haven’t yet noticed a reduction, but perhaps there’d be even more if I didn’t take it ;)

    My thoughts are with you!

    2ebh2dq1ljin.jpg
    hzv6ffrwu6we.jpg


    Your dermatologist does great work!!

    And now you've got me wondering about my nose ...


    M in Oz

  • bananasandoranges
    bananasandoranges Posts: 2,410 Member
    edited August 2021
    Options
    cityjaneLondon wrote: »
    Julie - She has emailed the agent this evening and said she has changed her mind back. Not asking for more now. Don't know what she was thinking!!!! ;) I hope it all goes ahead.

    Love Heather UK xxxxxx

    Heather Glad she came around! Sheesh!
  • bananasandoranges
    bananasandoranges Posts: 2,410 Member
    edited August 2021
    Options
    auntiebk wrote: »
    "Get to do"s and "chose well"s
    Chose well: take BP,
    Bonus: stroll with T and Shadow, lovely vegan lunch with same, YouTube Fern Canyon hike.
    Get to do: take BP, dogs to powerline, finish minutes, laundry, veg prep, flagger course progress, figure out how to see what’s using all our mobile data, USE those torture bands/do that BB&B video, call S, fire district: research NFPA, grant NIMS requirements, ongoing: input 2019 call sheets into NFIRS, work with chief on equipment letter, substance abuse policy, NFIRS mutual aid and other missing details, likewise Lee skills/tasks, ask for boots donator contact info, appreciation letter or certificate to boots donator, index mutual aid files; watch STAS Day 20, declutter sideboard, learn new dances (Tequila Little Time, Homesick, Nothing but You, A Little Less Broken, Blame it on my beating heart,; Do Your Thing, practice dances: One Margarita, I’m so used to being broke, All Night, Pure Movies to Wine, Beer, Whiskey, I ain’t never gonna love nobody but Cornell Crawford (Alley cat),); finish mulching flowerbed, invest another 10 minutes in prepping living trust, Freddie’s for complete series TDAP <$48, get Shingrix vaccine, find and configure a screen time popup, figure out where to plant the last of the naked lady bulbs, and soon as it warms up above 50 and dries out below 60% humidity I’ll tape and spray paint those rusted areas of Aunt Elsie’s stove, ask Te about GB’s FD firetruck tax levy – contacts, media, advocate???, Reward: inventory seeds, plan this fall’s garden, wishlist replenishments (Milena F1 orange peppers and beit alpha cukes next year).
    August
    19: Be thankful for your food and the people who make it possible. Amen!

    Tracey :love: that grandson and his Viking hat/beard.
    Evelyn thank goodness our vermin are smaller and less aggressive than raccoons. Have a looong story about our Wheaten’s fight with a raccoon, the short of it is she ended up at 24 emergency vet at 4 am for 5 puncture wounds around her snout. We were thankful the raccoon missed her eyes. Congrats for passing on the strata’s secretarial torch!
    Machka your comments about skimming uni notes, amen. Wish I’d known then what I do now . . . but I guess good judgement comes from experience… which comes from poor judgment. :lol: Absolutely pet playtime counts as exercise when your chasing your cat chasing his ball.
    Allie Touched by an Angel was one of my faves. Does Alfie like to play tug? ConVERYgratulations on the good news!
    Margaret brava for getting better at setting boundaries (and for your hint to Drew :> ). Some men dislike small dogs because they’re afraid they’ll step on them and injure them permanently. Still no excuse not to respond to Drew’s overtures. I’m thinking of taking AARP’’s free hearing test to establish a base line, would your DH consider doing so?
    Pip you ROCK! :love: that Yogi.
    Katla you’re a better person than I am. I would ask Karma to bring him back not just as a cat, but as one of his victims with full knowledge of what was happening and who was doing it.
    Heather SMH at G. Is it her indecisiveness or is she just not ready to sell, cementing the life change?
    Rebecca love letter? :love:
    Debbie brava for getting back into Zumba!
    Annie cheerful teachers are welcome gifts these days.
    Welcome @euchre35!
    Terri hope the eye meds do their job and seeing gets back to normal soon.

    Julie, hooray for veggies and recumbent energy! The skin story, way too long.
    Dates are approximate and likely misremembered ;)
    My skin is fair for a light brunette, and always sunburned easily. Back when I was a teen, we laid out in the sun intentionally, even with baby oil to enhance the tan. I had several bad burns, two that actually blistered: one under my breasts from having the sun hit where it was normally shaded ;) and one on my shoulders from a cloudy day sitting on a dock between a pool and a lake.
    In the mid 80’s a white something sprouted at the end of my nose. Well-meaning friends would hand me a tissue, one even tried to wipe it off for me. :blush: Finally went to a grumpy old male dermatologist. Without really telling me what he intended to do, he stuck a needle in the end of my nose, presumably novocaine to numb it. The needle hurt so badly that tears spurted from my eyes. I tell this story to every young woman I hear talking about going to the tanning bed parlor. Sometimes I exaggerate a little and say “tears spurted out from my eyes and bounced off his glasses.” Biopsy: basal cell. Do not remember him recommending sunscreen, hat or any protective wear.
    In the late 90’s a zit appeared in the middle of my chin and would not go away nor heal. GP said he’d normally take it off for me but since it was “in the middle of your face” he referred me to a dermatologist. She numbed it with cream, then novacaine, and shaved of some to have biopsied. Think it was dx as basal cell. She referred me to the dermatological surgeon for Mohs surgery. That woman was a real artist. She cut along the wrinkle line around my chin to peel back a third of it to get to the spot. When it healed you could not tell there was a scar.
    This began a regime of twice yearly full body visual scans. The dermatologist (who took the biopsy) had a bit of a rocky bedside manner at first, and was a quick draw artist with that doggoned freeze gun, but eventually we established a good relationship. Good thing because a year or two later, another “zit” popped up on the side of my nostril. Biopsy: squamous. Back to the surgeon. This time she sliced along the wrinkle line between nostril and cheek, again, invisible. I did look like a pirate with the bandages and bruising until it healed, but all came out well.
    Finally in the mid 2000’s or early teens another zit popped up in the hairline just above my forehead. Biopsy: squamous again.
    Little to no visible scarring. Pics at bottom.

    The last three were all Mohs surgery, done on an outpatient basis. They gave me a twilight drug so I was “out there” while they did the onsite analysis. I don’t think they ever had to go back and remove more, but they might have. I did learn that I’m sensitive to the twilight-making drug “Halcyon.” It makes me unable to pee. Called the nurse and she said if I didn’t pee within the next X hrs to go to the ER to get catheterized. Yikes! Sitting on the pot, running the shower, holding my hand in the warm water-filled sink and visualizing rushing rivers did the trick. Whew!

    My hair cutter found something suspicious on the back of my scalp but the hot shot dermatologist advised it was just a “pink mole.”

    So no baddies for at least five years, maybe more. My current dermatologist said that meant I could revert to annual scans, but I’m sticking with every six months. Use it as an excuse to hit Trader Joe’s while I’m in the big city. ;)

    I truly hope you get results soon. I urge you to add 500 mg Niacinamide to your daily supplement regime. “In patients with sun-damaged skin, oral nicotinamide helped prevent the occurrence of nonaggressive skin cancers (11). . . .Other studies found a reduction in actinic keratoses, a predictor of melanoma risk (13) (21). Additional studies are warranted (14).” from: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/nicotinamide
    I have lots of keratoses and haven’t yet noticed a reduction, but perhaps there’d be even more if I didn’t take it ;)

    My thoughts are with you!

    2ebh2dq1ljin.jpg
    hzv6ffrwu6we.jpg



    Lighter, lovelies!
    f8qt1s098sxm.gifBarbara, the Southern Oregon Coastie AHMOD
    August: leaner/stronger/kinder than July.
    daily: sit with Joe: 17, weigh/wii: 19/0/0; steps>6704=6810 vits=18, log=19, CI<CO=18, CI<250<CO=14, Tumble=10, Shadow=18, mfp=20, outside=22, up hill=21, clean 10=6.
    wkly: Sun: Mon: Tue:LD YH=1, Wed:TC=2, PW=2. Thurs: Fri:TC=2. Sat:PW=2. rX x4=2.
    wt=1/31:141.3 2/28:142.4 3/31:145.3 4/30:141.5 5/31:142.4 6/30:141.5 7/31:140.2!!! 8/1:141.3 8/8:140.4 8/15:141.5 :rage:
    mnthly: board mtg=1, grant=, plan=, waist=42.0
    bonus: AF:11 play= sew=
    2021: choose to be leaner/stronger/kinder NOW

    Barbara thanks. I agree with machka your dermatologist did great work!
    That's not too long. Now I understand why you recommended MOHS. My impression is that they don't necessarily use it in necks. From research I've done MOHS means they absolutely know if they've gotten the whole thing; I think it should have been used in my case: invasive and 2nd biopsy of same thing. To be honest I think he did the scar in the wrong direction. it was a tiny dot of a scar - nothing -after 1st biopsy, just one stitch since the growth was on a stem. Not knowing much as I was on the table (only time I saw the doctor) I asked if he could do it horizontally thinking that would be a more aesthetic scar. He said no he was doing it vertically slightly diagonally, since the 1st dot was that way. I think that was a bad choice. I think he must have take close to 2cm round to have a margin. He was also chatting with his fellow doctor about hospital gossip while he was operating. I've since read that major concerns for many people are 1) health 2) aesthetics, not necessarily in that order. He didn't care at all about aesthetics. He even said the anti-scar skin cream wasn't necessary, was only for scarring. I feel uneasy about the scar. I don't think he did a god job sewing it.
    But onward and upward. I have only had 2 stitches or so on my knee a very long time ago, and I really didn't care much at all about the look of it on the knee. The neck is so different, everyone will see it. It's a bit over an inch. I feel angry and sad about that. Also reading the forum was helpful. It talks about the anxiety of having to get checked regularly, to never know when it's over, to keep getting bits taken out... The fact that some people consider it "just skin cancer" but it's really serious and can spread to other parts of the body if not caught quickly. I'm upset that they haven't called me back 2 weeks post-biopsy, and that the operating doctor said he removed the dermis (2 mm) whereas the plan was to remove the hypodermic. I see that the usual is to remove the hypodermis, so I certainly hope he did that, which means he was giving me a quick inaccurate answer to get rid of me quickly, as he had been in the midst of talking with his very young colleague doctor in private conversation just outside the waiting room. He was replacing the other doctor, so I don't know if he was aware enough of my case and if he cares enough since I was normally not "his patient". Surely the flip side of health care for all is the current delay.
  • LisaInArkansas
    LisaInArkansas Posts: 2,425 Member
    Options
    ;)
  • bananasandoranges
    bananasandoranges Posts: 2,410 Member
    edited August 2021
    Options
    Machka9 wrote: »
    auntiebk wrote: »

    Julie, hooray for veggies and recumbent energy! The skin story, way too long.
    Dates are approximate and likely misremembered ;)
    My skin is fair for a light brunette, and always sunburned easily. Back when I was a teen, we laid out in the sun intentionally, even with baby oil to enhance the tan. I had several bad burns, two that actually blistered: one under my breasts from having the sun hit where it was normally shaded ;) and one on my shoulders from a cloudy day sitting on a dock between a pool and a lake.
    In the mid 80’s a white something sprouted at the end of my nose. Well-meaning friends would hand me a tissue, one even tried to wipe it off for me. :blush: Finally went to a grumpy old male dermatologist. Without really telling me what he intended to do, he stuck a needle in the end of my nose, presumably novocaine to numb it. The needle hurt so badly that tears spurted from my eyes. I tell this story to every young woman I hear talking about going to the tanning bed parlor. Sometimes I exaggerate a little and say “tears spurted out from my eyes and bounced off his glasses.” Biopsy: basal cell. Do not remember him recommending sunscreen, hat or any protective wear.
    In the late 90’s a zit appeared in the middle of my chin and would not go away nor heal. GP said he’d normally take it off for me but since it was “in the middle of your face” he referred me to a dermatologist. She numbed it with cream, then novacaine, and shaved of some to have biopsied. Think it was dx as basal cell. She referred me to the dermatological surgeon for Mohs surgery. That woman was a real artist. She cut along the wrinkle line around my chin to peel back a third of it to get to the spot. When it healed you could not tell there was a scar.
    This began a regime of twice yearly full body visual scans. The dermatologist (who took the biopsy) had a bit of a rocky bedside manner at first, and was a quick draw artist with that doggoned freeze gun, but eventually we established a good relationship. Good thing because a year or two later, another “zit” popped up on the side of my nostril. Biopsy: squamous. Back to the surgeon. This time she sliced along the wrinkle line between nostril and cheek, again, invisible. I did look like a pirate with the bandages and bruising until it healed, but all came out well.
    Finally in the mid 2000’s or early teens another zit popped up in the hairline just above my forehead. Biopsy: squamous again.
    Little to no visible scarring. Pics at bottom.

    The last three were all Mohs surgery, done on an outpatient basis. They gave me a twilight drug so I was “out there” while they did the onsite analysis. I don’t think they ever had to go back and remove more, but they might have. I did learn that I’m sensitive to the twilight-making drug “Halcyon.” It makes me unable to pee. Called the nurse and she said if I didn’t pee within the next X hrs to go to the ER to get catheterized. Yikes! Sitting on the pot, running the shower, holding my hand in the warm water-filled sink and visualizing rushing rivers did the trick. Whew!

    My hair cutter found something suspicious on the back of my scalp but the hot shot dermatologist advised it was just a “pink mole.”

    So no baddies for at least five years, maybe more. My current dermatologist said that meant I could revert to annual scans, but I’m sticking with every six months. Use it as an excuse to hit Trader Joe’s while I’m in the big city. ;)

    I truly hope you get results soon. I urge you to add 500 mg Niacinamide to your daily supplement regime. “In patients with sun-damaged skin, oral nicotinamide helped prevent the occurrence of nonaggressive skin cancers (11). . . .Other studies found a reduction in actinic keratoses, a predictor of melanoma risk (13) (21). Additional studies are warranted (14).” from: https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/nicotinamide
    I have lots of keratoses and haven’t yet noticed a reduction, but perhaps there’d be even more if I didn’t take it ;)

    My thoughts are with you!

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    Your dermatologist does great work!!

    And now you've got me wondering about my nose ...


    M in Oz


    Australia has the highest overall rate of skin cancer, followed by New Zealand. https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/skin-cancer-statistics/
    since Norway and Denmark are right up there it must be more based on fairness of skin rather than the closeness to the equator. Tasmania fairs better! https://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2014/august/skin-cancer-by-state-and-territory/

    I never gave it much thought but now I have no choice for the rest of my life for something that was avoidable.

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