Don't forget the sunscreen---USE CAUTION

Gofirstclass

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,698
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
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No motor
I've spent much of my life in the sun and never gave much thought to wearing sunscreen. I guess I was in that "Aw, it won't happen to me."

Well, last year during my physical my doctor suggested I visit a dermatologist to get some areas of my face checked out. I did, and had a Squamous Cell Carcinoma removed--one from my scalp, right at the top of my head. Since the scalp is not very elastic so they had to remove a large (50 cent piece size) section of skin from the back of my neck to do a skin graft for the top of my head.

I then went through a series of treatments where they used a combination of a very bright light and a crème to burn off some sun damaged skin cells. That hurt like hell but it seemed to work.

I went back in for my last checkup and the doc wanted to biopsy two areas from my face, one up near the top of my forehead on the right side and another in front of my right ear. Both came back positive for Squamous Cell Carcinomas (SCC).
Fortunately for me, SCC's are not cancerous so the "danger factor" is relatively low.

Yesterday I went in to have the one on my forehead removed. They cut it off, then biopsied around the edges to make sure they got it all. Then they sewed it back together. The forehead is not very elastic either, so they have to cut the skin away from the tissue beneath it. They cut it loose so they would have enough of the elastic skin to pull together to stitch it together.

They take pics before and after and I asked them to take pics with my phone so I could make this thread. The next time you think you don't need sunscreen, pull this thread up and take a look at it. Oh, and for the record, I now use a spray sunscreen with an SPF of 110.

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So here I sit in my robe. I've had an ice pack on my forehead for most of the last 24 hours and I'm taking some codeine for the pain.

And yes, I will probably have a scar when this heals.
 
Holy crap CFC!

I had a basal cell removed from my back that was about that size... not as bad as the forehead!

Hope all is well.
 
Thanks for this post.
I am a redhead and love the outdoors (.....boating!). I have had over 12 basal cell carcinomas removed over the past 10 years or so.

I always have the sunscreen on and never go without a shirt.
 
The only thing worse would have been if the hole on your head had been big enough to require a skin graft to close. Mine was the size of a Coke can and took 4 months of doc visits and wound care to heal. For that reason, I only wear wide brim hats and long sleeve shirts on the boat and have 75% sun shades for the side glass and curtains on my boat. I always thought "I can handle the sun", but the sun burns you get when you are young are what does the damage. All the clothing modifications, the sun screens, canvas enclosures and visits to the dermatologist every 90 days are a pain, but it sure beats the alternative of not boating at all because 6 ft or earth is between you and air.

Mike - Thanks for sharing your experience.......It may make some of these hard cases go get checked for skin cancer.
 
I guess it is real. Hope all is well. Im one of those young thick headed, I dont need sunscreen persons. I think I just changed that. Thanks for sharing.
 
Xplicitlnck said:
I guess it is real. Hope all is well. Im one of those young thick headed, I dont need sunscreen persons. I think I just changed that. Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...


If you follow much of what I write here, you know I'm not much in the B.S. department......this skin cancer stuff isn't something to screw around with. At the least, it is a pain in the butt to deal with; at the worst, it kills your dumb a$$.
 
I just had my "every 6 mo" checkup at the dermatologist as well. All continues to look good after a scare about 3 years ago. I use SPF 50 all the time and wear a T-shirt and Ball Cap as much as possible so as not to have to go through what GFC is documenting here. Sucks that our favorite past time could cost us our lives if we don't respect the sun's rays.
 
Xplicitlnck said:
I apologize if this is real but really???
Click to expand...
Trust me, it's real. I posted these pics so you all could see why it's so important to use sunscreen. The one I use comes from Banana Belt. When I discussed sunscreens with the dermatologist I asked him about the law of diminishing returns and how that applied to SPF's. He said most people don't properly apply sunscreen, so to get the maximum protection it's important to use the highest number you can find, then apply it liberally.
 
Thank you for sharing and stressing sun protection. I am very glad it was non cancerous.

One problem is so often people do not take these skin situations serious and just go back to the same old habits. There are so many instances of non cancerous situations like this, often people don't think it is a big deal at all so they continue with no regard for sun protection.

My wife had a speck that tested postive for Melanoma (Cancerous) several years back and had to get a chunk of meat carved out of her back that a hockey puck would have fit in to. Along with that, she had to get some Lymph Nodes removed and checked. Fortunately it was not in the Lymph Nodes so she has just been on a 6 month check routine ever since.

The whole time following up to her surgery so many friends were basically telling her it was "no big deal", "what are you so worried about" "just got 2 of those burned off last week, now back to the tanning, ha, ha, ha", etc. None understood how serious of a situation it was.

About two years after that, her Grandmother, who was in her 80s found a spot on her ankle that became infected, it turned out to be Melanoma and 7 months later it took over her entire body and then took her life. There is a child on my side of the family (second cousin) who was recently diagnosed with Melanoma. She is only 11 and has not been regularly exposed to the sun.

Bottom line is skin cancer does not get the attention as some of the more discussed cancers like Breast, or Lung so people just don't think about it. Melanoma has a very high rate of being cured if caught early but if it spreads, it can be one of the most aggressive. Proper sun protection is the easiest way to prevent these types of things.
 
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My wife and I lost a friend to skin cancer earlier this year.....he was only in his 30's. He was an avid golfer and really enjoyed being in the sun.

Thanks for the reminder....sometimes the more graphic reminders are the ones we need to drive home the point.
 
GFC,

Good post but your title wasn't explicit enough. I thought you meant use caution with the sunscreen!! When I got to your pics I was eating and had a little trouble swallowing the bite!! I'm happy for you that it's not cancerous. Those GRAPHIC pics will surely make a few people think twice about sun exposure.

I agree many people don't understand the severity of skin cancer. A couple of years ago my wife was dogging me to go to the dermatologist because I had a sunspot, not a mishapen purple mole, on my left cheek that was getting bigger. So I finally gave in figuring it was nothing and it would put her at ease. Well the Doc does a biopsy and tells me they will mail the results. I would only get a call if it was bad news. Two days later I got the call, it was melanoma. As I listened to the doctor rattle off the procedure/ surgery I was going to need and that time was important it really hit home when he started telling me what my "10 year survival rate" was looking like! I was like "10 year survival rate? WTF is he talking about? I have a wife and 3 small children that need me, of course I'm going to be around 10 years, and then 10 more and 10 more and so on" It was a very sobering conversation.

As it turned out, 2 surgeries later the cancer was eradicated. I was one of the lucky ones. My type of cancer, I think it was lentigo maligna melanoma, although deadly was caught very early and was very superficial. That is why my prognosis is great. What kills you is when the cancer goes deep and hits the bloodstream. Melanoma is very metatastic and very aggressive. IT WILL KILL YOU IF LEFT UNTREATED! I , like several of the previous posters, wear t-shirts at the beach now with big rimmed hats and UV blocking sunglasses because your eyes are succeptable too!

So all of you young guns (Jonathan) be smart out there if you want to grow old and see your children grow up!!

Thanks for the post GFC.
 
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Thanks for posting your experiences, sobering stuff. While we're on the topic of sun protection, don't forget about your eyes. Wear good quality UV blocking sunglasses. My eye doctor is currently watching me for a condition I can't pronounce that increases the chance I could develop cancer of the eye, melanoma of the eye actually. I have always worn sunglasses, but now make sure they are top quality RayBan or similar. I don't even want to think about the possibilities of not heeding the docs warning. I get photos of my retinas taken every year and retinal scans done every six months. I really hate the flash photography of my retinas, but when it comes to vision, I'm not taking any chances.
 
A good tan in the summer doesn't seem so important now.
Being dark complected...I never thought much about issues like that.
I am thinking about it now.
 
I had stage 1 melonoma removed from inside my earlobe so I very much support the importance of this thread. I was lucky and so far cancer-free for the last three years. I was irresponsible with my lifestyle for a long time... boating, golf, beach house, pool parties, 911 convertible, my Triumph... all fun but not skin friendly hobbies. When doc said I was literally just months away from terminal cancer at 41 years of age, it was a major eye opener.

My surgery healed, skin graft covered the big missing piece of my ear, and at least for now cancer is gone. I still do all the things I always enjoyed but now sunscreen is the first thing I do. In fact, I've become the sunscreen nazzi on my boat. Do not take any chances with this stuff!
 
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My brother had melanoma. He didn't know he had a problem until a swollen lymph node showed up. They never found the original source, said it happens in a couple % of the cases. The day they told him he had melanoma they told him he had 24-30 months. They were quite accurate, lots of practice working with this nasty sh-t I guess. He was 57 when it finished destroying him. Protect yourselfs...you do not want to go through that crap.
 
Add one more to the list. I see a dermatologist every 3 months since I have had several occasions to go under the knife myself.

As a teen I worked outside all summer back in the days before there was any sunscreen protection available. You basically got burnt until you tanned sufficiently. I am pretty sure that is what is causing all my problems currently.

Dave
 
Thought I would work in a boat pic. Here is my Father in Law's 45' Gibson. He introduced me to boating in the '80s. We took a annual family trip on the Ohio river every August.
Jim was a great guy. He died this past September from melanoma (started in his eye).

Jim is on left in the wide brim hat.

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