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Post Info TOPIC: just a little skin cancer FYI...
june


Nine West

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just a little skin cancer FYI...
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Hi ladies,


Just wanted to share my recent experience, in case it can help anyone.  Two or three weeks ago a spot popped up on my chest.  At first I just thought it was a blemish.  But, it never really looked like one.  It ended up looking kind of like a blister - not a puffed up blister, but one that is flattened down a little.  Pink, about the diameter of a pencil eraser, pretty round and smooth.  I just kind of watched it, to make sure it wasn't changing or anything.  It didn't look anything like what I thought skin cancer looks like - dark, crusty, irregular borders, gross, etc. 


Well, this week I decided to have a dermatologist look at it, just to be safe.  Turns out, it is likely basal cell carcinoma.  He looked at it and could tell right away.  They removed it (local anestesia, cut it out, used that burning tool to stop the bleeding...blech) and are biopsying it confirm.  If it is indeed malignent, then I go back for more cutting, to make sure they get everything out.  Thankfully, BCC is the easiest skin cancer to treat.  I will have to go back every few months for a full body check.


Just wanted to give everyone a heads' up that skin cancer doesn't always look dramatic and horrible.  Read up on what the different types can look like (they all look very different) and do regular body checks on yourselves.  I am a no sun person...I wear SPF 30 on my face, chest and neck everyday when I'm just running around and never spend extended time in the sun (even with SPF 45 regularly reapplied, I still feel like I'm getting sun).  However, as a child and teenager I got many many sunburns, which is the very worst thing you (and your parents) can do to your skin. 


I'm only 28 years old, so I feel a little scared about what else is going to pop up in the future as a result of my past sun damage.  This time, thankfully, it is likely the most treatable kind of cancer. 


Just wanted to share to let you all know to keep an eye on all spots that are new or different than usual...


June



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ico


Dooney & Bourke

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thanks for sharing!


Hope you won't have any more problems in the future.



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ico
JoceyBaby23


Gucci

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Good story.. I just recently quit tanning beds too... it is so dangerous. I really hope everything works out well for you!

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Drew


Gucci

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Wow, june, that is a scary store.  I'm glad you shared it with us. 


I really hope that if it's malignant, that the doctors will get all of it out; and I'm so glad you payed attention and caught it right away. 


I'm just like you in the way that I am very careful about getting sun now, and always wear plenty of SPF (50 at the beach), but when I was young and a teen I got burned on plenty of occasions and sometimes I get freaked out when I look at all the freckles along my back,  chest, and shoulders.  I will certainly pay close attention, because I'm about 28 too and that just feels way too young to get cancer, but I guess it can happen at any age, as you and others prove. 


Best to you and I hope you only have happy news about this in the future.  Keep us updated, ok?



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scarlett


Marc Jacobs

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thanks for sharing, june.  i am 28 too, and wear sunscreen all the time now, but like you got tanned (and burned) when i was a kid.  i hope everything works out for you!  please let us know how things progress.  it sounds like you are being very proactive and that is great.



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june


Nine West

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Thanks for the well wishes.  I find out the results of the biopsy tomorrow and will keep you posted.  I'm also going to find out if there is anything I can do to proactively reduce past sun damage...I feel like I'm just a sitting duck, waiting for another spot to pop up.  Seems like there should be some kind of laser peel or something like that that would reduce past damage...we'll see! 

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sephorablue


Marc Jacobs

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thanks again for the reminder--any news? I really hope you are all clear.


I am in the same boat as everyone else--late 20's, careful now, but burned/tanned a lot as a child. I guess people our age were sort of the last wave to grow up before people REALLY understood how damaging sun was. As recently as 4 years ago I still thought you weren't damaging your skin as long as you didn't burn, but tanned gradually--I remember talking to my aunt and she was like, "no, ANY color means you've been damaged--that's what the color IS!"


This is a well-timed reminder for me because there has been a sneaky voice in the back of my head, wondering whether I might be able to do a little light tanning since I have a summer full of events coming up... but I would rather be casper-white and healthy!



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halleybird


Hermes

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I am so sorry june! Hope everything is OK now.


I've mentioned several times on here that my dad has had 3 serious bouts of skin cancer, and my 20 y/o cousin has melanoma. I, too, got a lot of sun in my youth & it scares me so much!



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