2017 Diagnosed-- A Place To Share "Whats Next"
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Runor—. I even tried to rationalize that they really need the skin to dry for 5 mins but assume most people won’t wait the full 5 mins so they tell you to wait 10 mins figuring they will get the needed 5 mins
Want this silly skin cancer to DIE so am being “good” and waiting 10 mins.
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You're probably right that the real need is a 5 minute dry but knowing how people are - as they pull out the blow dryer - they decided to shoot for 10 hoping some would wait the 5. I admire your self control!
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update time: not quite 3 weeks for the chemo cream. Last couple of days am seeing a red angry spot where biopsy was. Yesterday, the scab got ripped off while I was doing laundry. If I wasn’t putting poison on the sore, I would think the spot was infected. I think this is the start of what this medication is supposed to do. Expect this angry sore to continue.
No pain.
Still tired of washing and waiting 10 mins between washing and apply 5FU cream.
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DodgersGirl
Sounds like it is not pleasant to look at but at least there is no pain. Washing and waiting sounds tiresome but maybe your diligence in following the instructions is paying off with a pain-free, complication-free treatment (assuming the it was okay for the scab to cone off)? Hope you have smooth sailing through the rest of the treatment. Keep us posted.
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DodgersGirl, I used a similar cream several years ago on a skin cancer on my arm and what you are now seeing sounds very normal to me. (Just be sure to keep that area out of direct sunlight because it will burn very easily.) My doctor stressed that I should put the cream only on the biopsy spot because it (the cream) was so caustic that it would burn any skin that it touched. She indicated that the biopsy itself provided sufficiently clear margins that it was not necessary that I treat any area beyond that. The area I treated was an angry red until some time after I stopped using the cream. I never felt any pain or discomfort at the site and now have only a faint scar there. It was a pain to wash, wait and apply the cream every day but it sure was easier and less invasive than most cancer treatments. Good luck; it will all be over soon!
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JKL— thanks for the information!!
I have to apply the lotion a bit beyond the biopsy. I had 2 biopsies earlier and with each was assured all would be well. Went to dermatologist last month for yearly check up. I asked about that same spot because the skin was flaky just to the right of the biopsy scar. Is that still cancer? I asked. 3rd biopsy again confirmed squamous carcinoma so applying 5FU to hopefully kill it dead (like they say in the Raid commercials)
Hope the cream works. Kinda concerned as I had this spot before BC diagnosis which means it lived thru AC and Taxol and 2 biopsies.
I have to be out in the sun this weekend. Think I will cover the area to be safe.
Thanks again
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Scrafgal— just wanted to tell you that I still have not worn a hat since your post. And last weekend I actually forgot about my hair while out to dinner.
Thank you for sharing your trials and strength.
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DodgersGirl,
👍
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update on skin cancer on my arm— visit with dermatologist today. Was told biopsy site looks as it should at this point. And to continue the 5FU cream for 2 more weeks.
Have another appointment with dermatologist in September.
Almost done with this silly 10 min wait between washing site and applying cream!!!
Wound site has started to itch. Hope that's a sign of healing.
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Great update, DodgersGirl! Looks like things are going smoothly for you. That must have felt good to hear...that things look as they should.
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Sounds like you're in the right track DodgersGirl! Sorry about the itching. Maybe it's just part of the healing process like you said
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Dodgersgirl, I give you great credit for sticking to the program with such vigilance. It takes real willpower not to improvise and go rogue with the instructions.
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Runor—. Thanks. I think to be honest, it is more out of fear. My skin cancer isn’t a big deal overall. It’s in situ and really only on the top most layers. But, big picture is that I had this spot before BC diagnosis so it was there’s during A/C and Taxol chemo and it endured. It was there during a year of a clinical trial and it endured. It’s been cut out twice before, and now a third time. I want it GONE so am doing what the dermatologist said to do, hoping this time those cancer cells will be killed dead (like RAID, the bug spray)
I did ask what’s next if this skin cancer returns. She said she would refer my to a surgeon. I am not worrying about that yet but it is on my node removed side.
2 more weeks. I almost have a routine in place now. Will feel like I forgot something the first day I get ready for work after this treatment!
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Dodger Girl: Not 100% sure but the drugs we get for breast cancer don't work for skin cancers. Hang in there it will all get better. My grandmother use to say when it's itchy, then it's starting to heal.
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pink- thank you for that info. I do tell myself that maybe AC and Taxol weren’t geared at killing my skin cancer.
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had my 3 month ONC visit this week. All seems ok. Blood work normal.
Now to relax and keep trying to push those recurrence fears from my mind for now. Wondering when that concern goes away?
Are we survivors? (Regardless to whether you like or don’t like that term). Are we labeled survivors after main treatments? After x number of years from diagnosis? From the end of initial treatment?
Just wondering what you guys think?
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Glad to heart it, DodgersGirl.
I am a survivor, until I hear otherwise!
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Hi Everone,
I am re-reading my Cancer Journal. I kept a daily journal from day one of The Mammogram. I am finding it extremely funny, sad, depressing and some really horrific remarks. I cannot believe I survived that journey alone. Well, I wasn't entirely alone, my friends on this forum kept me sane.
I hope all is well in our crazy world.
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DodgersGirl:
Interesting question. I never really thought of myself as a survivor. For whatever reason I didn't like that label. It reminds me that I had BC and that it could come back at any time. I'm not sure that fear will ever go away completely for me. Everyone is different. A friend of mine had BC twice, once in her thirties and then again in her fifties. Every now and then she still thinks about it and what she'd do if it ever came back. When someone we care about dies, do we ever forget them. We think less as time goes on but they're still in our memory.
Definitions of survivor are:
1. A survivor of a disaster, accident, or illness is someone who continues to live afterward in spite of coming close to death.
2. A survivor of a very unpleasant experience is a person who has had such an experience, and who is still affected by it.
Based on the definitions I think we are survivors.
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pink- great post. Thanks!
I hadn’t really considered myself a cancer survivor while my friends would use that term a lot. Your definitions kinda changed my viewpoint. I did survive something. And now am figuring out what’s next
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DodgersGirl, are you finished chemo now? Hope that you are coming through on top of things, though I do see you are having side effects and that must be very hard for you and yours. All the best with everything
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53Nancy—. Yes, finished with the chemo cream!! Today is first day in 6 weeks that I don’t have to apply poison to my skin!!
The biopsy wound is red and angry looking and it itches on and off, so hoping that’s a sign of healing!
I return next month to gave it looked over by my dermatologist... but since I am the one who has found it each time, I will keep a watchful eye on that area as well.
Thanks for asking.
Hope all is well in your world
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DodgersGirl, I have heard that itching is a sign of healing. I hope it all goes well for you. I am doing well at this point. I was given an all clear in May and signed off by Cancer Care back to local health care. A little scary to know that I won’t be followed for the five years, but there is a physician about 30 miles from here who sees only cancer patients two days a week, and he has agreed to see me twice a year. I am having a good summer. I’ve even been doing some canning, which I wasn’t up to doing the last two years. Good luck with everything
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yay, DogersGirl....I was wondering whether you were done, too!
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congrats on finishing DodgersGirl! I hope the cream did everything it was supposed to and you'll heal up quickly.
Hey, i got myself some motivational bling from this website https://bestrong.co/- everything is on sale and maybe someone here would like it. It's nothing super fancy, I'm glad I didn't pay full price but at the sale prices it's fun stuff. I got some of the sweary ones and they make me laugh when I look at my arms. I also got the fate whispers to the warrior one...
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I like the "just breathe" bracelet
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I like the coin pendant: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."
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Shopping now, moth! Thanks!
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I got the "I believe I can so I will" ring, the "believe in yourself" ring and the pendant about dancing in the rain!
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I had this bracelet made for myself during treatment. I still wear it. It's also cheap and from Etsy ...love this stuff..
It says, " She is clothed in strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future."
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