I had my dermatology appointment and I don't have skin cancer! It was a pretty quick appointment. After taking a medical history (always the longest part), the doctor looked me all over and said all my freckles look normal. She then gave me a list of approved sunscreens and pamphlets of things to look for that had with terrible pictures of skin cancer on them and booked a follow up in a year.
While the most common skin cancer in the general population is basal cell carcinoma, with people on anti-rejection medication, we are more likely to get squamous cell skin cancer. Squamous skin cancer develops from actinic keratoses or "sun spots." The spots themselves aren't cancerous but the doctor said she would want to treat me because there is a strong likelihood they would turn into cancer. She also said that they treat squamous skin cancer very aggressively because it can be fast moving and spread other areas.
All in all, I need to be on the lookout and check my skin every once in awhile. If it's caught early, it's very treatable. And to wear sunscreen every day, even when it's cloudy. The grocery store was clearing it out so I stocked up on some nice face stuff.
1 comment:
Appreciate the lesson on squamous cell.. didnt get that at mine. Also is a "sun spot" a mole? or entirely different? I feel like keeping an eye if a mole changes is so hard especially when you have had many lifelong and some are in impossible areas like back of neck, etc.
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