Monday, March 29, 2010

PLEASE USE SUNSCREEN!! BEWARE GRAPHIC PICTURES!!



I have been bugging Doug for a while now to go see a dermatologist, he has these little sores on his face and head that will scab up and bleed and are almost always red. Well last Monday he finally decided to go. They biopsied 3 areas and froze about a dozen other areas. They called him Thursday with the results...Squamous Cell Carcinoma! What?? I was thinking they would come back pre-cancanerous and they would just freeze them off. Which they have done before. Squamous cell carcinoma is 2ND most common type of skin cancer. It is rarely found in anyone under the age of 50 and they are more likely to be males. They scheduled Doug to go into the office today to remove them, they used a procedure called Mohs where you go in have them cut off a piece and right there in the office they freeze the sample and look at it under the microscope to see if they got it all. So we had to wait about an hour between cuts, but luckily for Doug it only took two tries to get it all, we were really worried cause we kind of found out about this fast and didn't have much information about it, so we searched the Internet and got ourselves really scared, the pictures looked horrible! They told us there is a plastic surgeon on hand if they needed one, which of course freaked us out more, being that two of these were on his nose, Doug was terrified of what he would end up looking like. Well they were able to close the holes up without a skin graft and the doctor says he will heal nicely, it is hard to tell by looking at him now, but i know he will be fine. Doug told me i could only put this up on my blog if i made sure i told everyone to wear sunscreen! The doctor said most of the damage is done by the time you are 10 years old. If you stay out of the sun as an adult sometimes it will actually heal itself, but if you continue to go out in the sun unprotected the more likely it will turn into something bad. The doctor also said once you've had Squamous cell cancer you will more than likely have more where they came from, so Doug will have to see the Dermatologist every 6 months to keep everything in check! I feel bad that Doug has to go threw all of this, but i am glad we caught it before it got super bad, people can lose there noses and ears because they didn't go in in time. Doug is super worried about looking ugly, but i will love him no matter what he looks like, he is my everything, besides i have an ugly crooked nose so we can have not so perfect noses together!
If you only read one paragraph of this post, let it be this one, please use sunscreen and if you have something wheather it be a mole or a sore or spot that you have noticed has changed or not healing, please go see your doctor!!



stitching him up
before closing him up
In the waiting room waiting with all the other people who were being cut on today
The one on his head
All stiched up

10 comments:

nancy said...

Dang it Janna...not expecting to see such graphic pictures! Glad they got it all and by the looks of it, Doug seems to be doing really good. A great reminder that I should probably be putting sunblock on my kids faces everyday...walk to and from school!
I'll scare them tonight into getting into the habit of doing it by telling them how Doug got skin cancer!

Jdogger said...

Sorry Nancy, i forget that some people arent used to seeing gross stuff all the time!! I know i am feeling bad cause the damage is probably already done with my kids!

Gary and LaRee said...

Glad that you put all those pictures on your blog. It is a good reminder to all of us to use sunscreen. The last picture is encouraging and so glad that things went well. Have a speedy recovery Doug! We love you!!

Ashley said...

That's funny Janna, those pictures didn't even phase me. It doesn't even bug me when people start talking about gross medical things when I'm eating. I'm glad that Doug is doing well. I'm sure he'll be just as handsome as ever.

Ashley said...

Oh and I love the pictures with his nose bandaged! Awesome!

Jaclyn said...

Glad everything went well! It's definitely something to think about. Praying for some good healing!

Melissa said...

Yah!!!! So glad he is ok and that everything looks good! I LOVED the pictures! Get better Doug, we are thinking about you!!!!

JackandJaneyNichols said...

I too am glad all went well for Doug, and appreciate the reminder about taking care of our skin. Unfortunately, I've always been a sun worshiper and its probably too late to undo any damage from my youth....use to purposely tan myself in baby oil, for heaven sake! Now that I'm old, I don't need any moe help in winkling myself, so I think I'll stay in the shade this summer! Doug looks like he'll heal nicely and keep his good looks! Love you guys!

Anonymous said...

HiJana and Doug I'm glad to see you are recovering is going well. I can relate to you being scared.I've searched for answers by doing my own research on the internet scouring pictures of people who have the same photos a me.I finally ran across your blog with photos of your husband Doug and found that my skin is a match to his.However I am female which I'm not sure if that would make a difference? I did this before I broke down to go see a Derm.he said I have roseshia but I don't fit this type when reading about it? He didn't do any testing for it and after leaving his office I realized he didn't offer advice to help me.My husband said that it was strange.its been a yr. Later got a text from his office telling me it's time for a follow-up. This time when i went I had a lot of questions for him to answer and showed him the sores again on my nose and again with a quick glance said not to worry it was roseshia this time giving steroid cream
I showed him a spot on my ear and that one turned out to be pre cancer which he froze. Its been a little over a yr now and I still have the same sores only bigger and worse. Do you suggest that I get a second opinion?

Anonymous said...

hey sorry I havent written on this blog for like 10 years! But yes you totally should get a second opinion, sores shouldnt be still there a year later! Im not saying it's cancer but for peace of mind it would be good to see if another doctor agree's with the first one or not. I have a new blog you can check out if you want...https://jannafillmore.com/ good luck with everything~ Janna Fillmore