After speaking with the nurse, she said I need to watch the biopsy areas to make sure the skin does not change in color or a growth appear, in addition, now I need to see the dermatologist in 6 months instead of a year. While I am thankful that these biopsies are not actually cancer yet, I am disappointed that they are considered pre-cancerous and have the potential to turn in to cancer, where a benign result would have indicated I was home safe because they wouldn't have the ability to metastasize.
Lesson to myself and all my readers, don't put off your annual health-screening appointments. Last year was an extremely busy year for me, and I postponed my annual skin cancer screening because life got busy. I don't generally skip my annual preventative screenings, but last year was unusual year for me and it happened. The lesson is do your best not to postpone your annual health screenings because had I gone last year maybe the results would have been different, I don't know. Maybe they would have caught it before it was pre-cancerous, I can't be sure, but I do know I regret not getting my annual skin cancer screening. A benign result is the optimal pathology result, an atypical is not desired, but it is better than a melanoma result.
"Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers. It accounts for nearly half of all cancers in the United States. More than 2 million cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancer are found in this country each year. Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, will account for more than 75,000 cases of skin cancer in 2012 (www.cancer.org)."
You might not realize that the sun damage that affects your skin can also affect your dog's. In fact, some of the very short-haired breeds that are outdoors often in the summer months can develop skin cancer just like people do.Thank you for sharing...
ReplyDeleteAbout Skin Cancer