So, I went to Tucson today to see the specialist about the cancer on my arm. I went not really knowing what to expect since I had to be seen as a new patient, but luckily I walked out of there without my nasty growth...and with a nasty wound instead!! :)
After the doc talked to me about the type of cancer and checked out my arm and did a quick scan of the rest of my upper body, the head doc came in and checked it out and told me of two options to remove it and let me know what he thought would be best. And the next thing I knew my arm was numb and they went to work! I was definitely thrilled to be cut on today instead of having to go back another day! They used a method called "Curettage and Electrodesiccation" to remove the cancer (the growth is cut away with a curette and the heat produced by an electrocautery needle destroys the residual tumor and controls bleeding). It stunk really bad but that is my only complaint about the procedure! :) It was super quick and painless, thanks to drugs! Now we see what happens. Hopefully nothing will grow back again and we will be good to go. I will be going back in 3 months and then the pattern of appointments for the first few years will be 3, 3, 6, 9, 12 months..and then a yearly visit as long as nothing suspicious occurs in the months in between. They say the rate of "cure" in the area they cut for the type of removal they did is 85-90% so hopefully I will fall into that statistic.
I have to prevent the wound from developing a scab so I have to keep it moist with ointment and cover it with a bandaid for at least 2 weeks..eew! I also have to start wearing an 70 SPF sunscreen....geesh! And really should avoid being in the sun. I know I will have a hard time with that with 3 kids and living in AZ so the doc gave me lots of websites for clothing and products to buy to help reduce the exposure. What a pain! Maybe having a pool at our house won't be so fun afterall anymore. That part is definitely a bummer and will be the hardest part to "obey"!
"Steve" joked today about the kids being tortured by having an "Edward Scissorhands" who can't leave the house as their mom. Very funny! :)
But anyways, hopefully we will be done with this issue for a while. The reoccurance is pretty high with this type of cancer so this may be something I am constantly dealing with, but it could be so much worse!