Precancerous – Update 1

nose
Photo taken March 13, 2016

A few years ago, I noticed a spot on the bridge of my nose. It didn’t change color and it was most likely just some skin pigmentation change, or so I wanted to think that’s what it was.

Fast forward to about 6 months ago when the discoloration changed and I become a bit more concerned, but not enough to take a visit to the dermatologist. About 2 months ago, my wife started mentioning that I really needed to get this checked out. After all, my mom died from melanoma, which has always weighed heavy in my mind since she contracted it back in 2004. So I made an appointment and decided to see what this was.

Freeze It

nose
Photo taken March 18, 2016, the day after I had the spot frozen

The doctor was very knowledgeable and identified the spot as Precancerous, which didn’t mean it was already cancerous, but that the cell construction that she could through her vision scope device, was something that could turn into cancer. Great… this is what my worries were leading up to for the last many years that I knew about this. To have put it off and caused me some worries, yet not enough to do anything about it, became a slight bit of concern now.

The two options she gave me were to take a layer of the skin on my nose and send it off to have a biopsy done of it. The other option was to freeze it, let it scab up and heal and then come back in 3 months to discuss it further. Her suggestion was the latter as she felt this was not a major and serious spot, but one that needed to try some general treatment to see if would heal itself into a normal state.

So freeze it happened.

Topical Healing

nose
Photo taken on April 1, 2016 – almost 2 weeks of using topical cream

The healing process takes 4 weeks, first the freezing and the scab it forms to fall off, with a nightly ritual of applying this precancerous prescription topical cream to help it heal. It’s been two week now and this last photo I posted shows where it’s at now. I get looks from people and some that I know, ask me what happened.

It looks worse than what it originally was, which the doctor said that would be the case during the healing process, which doesn’t help me feel any better about going to get this looked at.

I have to be honest here in that this does concern me more than it ever has. I am betting that the dermatologist knows her area of expertise and that it very well could just heal itself normally and go away.

I’ve been really good the last 8 years about keeping SPF 50 on my nose and face. I will be extra super better about doing that given how much I plan to be out in the sun this summer.

Another update on this in 2 weeks.

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