What Happened When I Got Skin Cancer

I am the first to admit there was a period of time in my life when I was a sun worshipper. I laid out in the sun to read or even just to relax. I also worked as a lifeguard for several summers. In the winter, I was a part-time professional downhill ski instructor. In all cases, wonderful bronze skin was a crowning achievement for the time I spent outside.

Often, the first sun exposure for any season meant sunburn. I just expected to get "a little" burned in the process of conditioning my skin for the tanning season. Unfortunately, too often the burn was more than "a little" due to using a liquid magnifying glass (baby oil, SPF minus 50) as my sunscreen.

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There were also a few years that I used tanning beds in the winter to prepare for warm beach vacations as well.

All of my sun sins admitted, I have taken better care of my skin since my late 20s. I apply sunscreen generously and often. I literally never leave the house without it even if it is only on my face. Because I know my continued passion for endurance sports puts me at risk for skin cancer, I have had annual full-body checkups by a dermatologist for many years.

This year, I was diagnosed with skin cancer on my lip. Perhaps what I have learned in the process of diagnosis and treatment can help you identify the symptoms that took me much too long to detect.

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You Know Your Body Better Than Anyone, So Trust Your Gut

About two years ago, I noticed a small red patch on my upper lip. It was really small, about half the size of a pencil eraser.At times it was barely noticeable. I searched photos on the Internet for anything that looked similar. I found nothing.

The patch wasn't raised, dry, bleeding, scaly or any of the other normal descriptions for skin cancer. When I had my skin check that year I didn't even mention the patch because I really didn't think much of it.

Last year when I had my annual skin check, I asked the new dermatologist to take a look at it. She looked at it and said, "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

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I will say that I was not impressed at all with the new dermatologist. I felt her entire exam was rushed and incomplete. Still, she was the trained professional and I trusted her opinion.

Not impressed with the dermatologist from last year, I found a new one for my exam this year. I asked him to take a look at the spot. After a very thorough exam everywhere, including the red patch, he said he wasn't sure. He had his assistant take a look at it. She wasn't sure about it either.

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The dermatologist gave me two options:

1. Do nothing this year. Take a photograph and monitor any changes in the upcoming year. Take action based on any findings.
2. Take a biopsy. Taking a biopsy would tell us one way or the other if the patch was cancer or not.

I didn't like the way the red patch persisted. My gut feeling was leading me towards getting a biopsy, and as strange as it sounds, my dogs might have provided the final nudge in the right direction.

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What Can Dogs Sense?

I was aware that there are dogs that are trained to detect cancer. My dogs were never trained to detect cancer; but, they were very interested in the red patch. Given free rein, they would sniff the red patch with intent and if allowed, they would try to lick the patch. They refused to leave it alone.

My dogs didn't treat any other spot on my body like they treated the red patch. I felt like the dogs were sensing something, and this was another reason I decided to go ahead with a biopsy.

A Skin Biopsy is More Than a Surface Scrape

When you get a skin biopsy taken, expect a shot that deadens the area and then expect a good chunk of skin to be removed. I joked with my friends that the doctor used a melon baller to do the biopsy. Of course I'm exaggerating, but the point of a biopsy is to get several layers of skin and some of the edge margins of any suspicious area.

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Expect a biopsy to be more than a small skin scrape—and this is for your own good.

Mohs Surgery

About 7 to 10 days after my biopsy, I received a phone message that I needed to contact the dermatology office. I knew this was not good news.

I was instructed that I needed to schedule Mohs Surgery to remove the basal cell carcinoma. Mohs surgery is done at the doctor's office and typically requires around 4 hours. The procedure involves the surgeon repeatedly removing layers of skin from the cancerous area until no more cancer cells are visible under a microscope. This procedure, though time consuming, is aimed at taking the least amount of good, healthy skin while removing the bad cells.

The Day of Surgery

When I arrived at the doctor's office on the day of the surgery, the doctor let me know that he thought my basal cell carcinoma could be treated with cryosurgery (freezing the site with liquid nitrogen). But, he gave me the choice of having Mohs surgery if that's what I wanted.

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After considering pros, cons and risks, I decided on cryosurgery.

Healing Time

As I write this column, I am one week out from cryosurgery. I couldn't find much information online about cryosurgery healing time. I think healing time depends on the volume of cryosurgery completed.

For the first few days I had blistering. Once the blistering was finished, my lip looked like I had a cold sore. At seven days out from surgery, there is minimal scabbing and it looks like the end of a healing cold sore.

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What I Learned

I learned, or relearned, several things during this experience:

• Always trust your gut instinct. If you think something is wrong with your body, get it checked out.
• If you don't like a doctor you're working with, find another one and don't wait for a year.
• Lip cancer is one of the most common skin cancers in Colorado. It is theorized that due to our active lifestyle we often wipe our upper lip to address a runny nose or after taking a drink. This action removes the sunscreen. Focus on getting sunscreen properly applied to your upper lip, neck and ears.
• Of course, wear a broad spectrum sunscreen with SPF of at least 15. Apply it 30 minutes before going outside and reapply it frequently if you are swimming or sweating.
• The more you know about skin cancer and treatment options, the higher quality your decisions can be.
• Keep up on your regular skin examinations.

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