Warrigal
SF VIP
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
Australia is sometimes referred to as the skin cancer capital of the world.
For fair skinned people like me the sun is very unkind.
Too late now to regret that I hated to wear broad brimmed hats in my youth or the non existence of sun screen lotions, the damage was done years ago.
Yesterday I presented for surgery to remove two basal cell carcinomas. One was above my right eye just inside the hairline. It was fairly small and because it was on the scalp, only needed stitches to close the wound. The other was on the bridge of my nose quite close to my left eye. This needed more fancy plastic surgery involving creating a flap of skin to cover the gap after excision of the cancer. I have in the past had similar plastic surgery to remove a very early melanoma from my arm and a persistent lesion from my foot so I was not at all concerned about this procedure.
As some of you will know I began this month with cataract surgery on both eyes, one week apart. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was and how painless.
Unfortunately, seeing two different surgeons in short succession led to some confusion about preparation. I take daily aspirin as a blood thinner and was told I could keep taking it right up to the eye surgeries. I was probably told to stop taking it before the skin cancer surgery but forgot all about it.
The plastic surgeon went ahead anyway and the work was done yesterday. The cut in the scalp is tightly stitched and doesn't leak. It isn't even covered with a dressing. The one on the nose is covered with a porous dressing that is not waterproof. I am not allowed to get it wet for three days, after which it can come off.
Trouble is, because of the aspirin, it is leaking blood through the dressing and also into the tissues around my eye. I am going to have the grand daddy of all shiners before long. I am also wondering how I am going to peel off a dressing that is now encrusted with dried blood and plasma without lifting up the fragile skin underneath.
I'm due at my GP's office tomorrow to talk about vaccinations and get some new scripts so I'll enlist his help with the dressing.
I look a bit like a victim of domestic violence right now and I've posted a couple of photos on the grandkids Facebook group to demonstrate how important it is to take precautions when exposed to the harsh rays of the sun. Fortunately I am preaching to the choir for most of them.
The rest might need a more graphic warning.
For fair skinned people like me the sun is very unkind.
Too late now to regret that I hated to wear broad brimmed hats in my youth or the non existence of sun screen lotions, the damage was done years ago.
Yesterday I presented for surgery to remove two basal cell carcinomas. One was above my right eye just inside the hairline. It was fairly small and because it was on the scalp, only needed stitches to close the wound. The other was on the bridge of my nose quite close to my left eye. This needed more fancy plastic surgery involving creating a flap of skin to cover the gap after excision of the cancer. I have in the past had similar plastic surgery to remove a very early melanoma from my arm and a persistent lesion from my foot so I was not at all concerned about this procedure.
As some of you will know I began this month with cataract surgery on both eyes, one week apart. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was and how painless.
Unfortunately, seeing two different surgeons in short succession led to some confusion about preparation. I take daily aspirin as a blood thinner and was told I could keep taking it right up to the eye surgeries. I was probably told to stop taking it before the skin cancer surgery but forgot all about it.
The plastic surgeon went ahead anyway and the work was done yesterday. The cut in the scalp is tightly stitched and doesn't leak. It isn't even covered with a dressing. The one on the nose is covered with a porous dressing that is not waterproof. I am not allowed to get it wet for three days, after which it can come off.
Trouble is, because of the aspirin, it is leaking blood through the dressing and also into the tissues around my eye. I am going to have the grand daddy of all shiners before long. I am also wondering how I am going to peel off a dressing that is now encrusted with dried blood and plasma without lifting up the fragile skin underneath.
I'm due at my GP's office tomorrow to talk about vaccinations and get some new scripts so I'll enlist his help with the dressing.
I look a bit like a victim of domestic violence right now and I've posted a couple of photos on the grandkids Facebook group to demonstrate how important it is to take precautions when exposed to the harsh rays of the sun. Fortunately I am preaching to the choir for most of them.
The rest might need a more graphic warning.
