OT: Dr. visit and a surprise...

[O.S.O.K.]

I'm getting old. I'm posting a "medical" issue thread....

Well, I went to the doc the other day and showed him a little cyst on my lower back that was giving me some discomfort - and had grown in size some - looked like a big pimple really. He told me it was a "sebaceous" cyst - a common type I guess and sent me to a dermotologist. So I went and he took it out with a little plug cutter thingy - about 1/4"x1" plug. He said the same thing - common cyst but they routinely send for biopsy. They sewed me up with 5 stitches and sent me packing.

Well, I was on the road yesterday, sitting in the airport and my wife calls me - the doctor had called and said the biopsy showed that the cyst was malignant... (oh stuff I think to myself). She went on to say that it wasn't a bad kind and wasn't likey to spread or anything but they want to take some more tissue and go a bit "deeper" and send that in for biopsy to make sure they got it all.

I called them and they told me it is/was a "squamous cell carcinoma" - and that they are not as serious as melanoma but still need to be removed as they grow rather quickly.

I'm 49 years old. I wasn't quite ready to hear this kind of stuff- but then, its very minor really and I shouldn't be whining about it at all.

I am fortunate that I went in to have this looked at. And further than I decided to have it removed and tested (they do that automatically) as this nipped it in the bud so to speak and is saving me from a much more traumatic surgery.

But I have to tell you, it feels kinda weird being told that you had a cancerous cyst on you.

My Dad, who has the melanoma's removed regularly would probably be happy to have this kind instead.... you have to be tough to sucessfully survive to reach 80 and beyond...

Anyhoo - the point of all of this is to caution you younger guys (in particular) all not to ignore "barnicals" that you may find. This one fooled both my GP and the Dermatologist...

[lthardman]

I guess you would have to say you got good news, compared to the alternative. I've lost some loved ones to melanoma.

Good on you for getting it checked out O.S.O.K. I imagine you will be a 'bit uncomfortable' when they do some more drilling, and for that I will send a few words up north on your behalf.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thank you. It is kinda weird - I go in to hav the stitches taken out on the 17th and then back on the 24th for them to cut some more... scheduling I guess...

[COSteve]

I had a squamous cell cyst carved out of my left forearm about 7 years ago. Yes, they can grow quickly as mine went from nothing to a large marble size in about 3 months. As stated above, the good news is that they are not as bad as melanoma. I haven't had any issues at all with it.

[O.S.O.K.]

Good to hear -thanks Steve.

BTW, how's your daughter doing? Fully recovered I hope.

[Blaine]

Glad all is more or less well.....

[Charles]

The words "cancer" and "malignant" are enough to cause the blood to run cold in most folks. But there are cancers and there are cancers. I have known dozens of folks with your medical issue and none have had any serious problems. Still, it is something nobody needs and everybody wants to avoid. Good luck with the follow up cutting.

[Booger Bill]

You dont want to hear this: I had a pimple size sore on my nose that wouldnt heal way back in 1985. It was basil cell carnimalnia? Not to worry, wont kill me etc. I got a small piece taken off about ever year and a half or so. About 13 times, maybe more. Than three years ago they changed their tune. Gave me two to six months if I didnt get my nose cut off! Well, I got the entire nose cut off, hid out close to a year while they built me a new one useing rib and behind the ears gristel. That and scalped me, useing that to cover the gristle framework. Almost blead to death two different times as I also am on blood thinner, and its a balancing act. Another time I was still weak, got my feet tangled and fell flat on my face, didnt even turn my head and busted all that work. I never got that fixed and it shoved my nose maybe a inch in. I haff pictures!
My best boyhood friend had a spot show up on his ankle. They caught it too late it killed him!

[C. Cash]

Glad they caught that OSOK!

[O.S.O.K.]

Wow Bill.

[madman4570]

Hope it works out fine O.S.O.K.
Myself,I will stay out of the good ole hospital thank you!
The two moles over the years that I had that appeared to grow some(I myself cut them out)no sign of them anywhere.
My neighbor that went in the Hospital two weeks ago for a lancing of a whatever on her neck contracted C- Diff and now is fighting for her life?????????

Me and Hospitals just dont get along!
I am very big on doing things to support your immune system and stay healthy.(sometimes what you get back is worse than why you went)
Anyway----For you,good call and good luck!

[Old Ironsights]

I started having the VA cut melanomas from my back when I was in my 30s...

But then, I played with alpha and beta emitters...

[Pete44ru]

Those kind of surprises suck, Jac - I hope you make out OK.

A PMA will help you more than most other things, in dealing with that stuff. (BT/DT/4X)

.

[Sixgun]

O.S.O.K,
I live in the past with the old guns, old ways of living, you know, a simplier life...........but.................bless the Lord for modern medicine. You will be fine. Hearing the "C" word puts a mighty big scare in everyone, but once you know that the docs today are the best there are, and the type of C you have, its a walk in the park to get rid of it. -------------Sixgun

[AJMD429]

I'm glad "O.S." is "O.K." (...sorry, O.S.O.K., I couldn't resist... )

An FYI on Melanomas - contrary to what many people, including many physicians, believe, there may be little to no 'protection' from them for those who avoid sunburn. You can tell that by the sites they tend to favor; here's a chart of where several hundred were found (from a Derm text).



[Re: "Sun" - note upper-back vs. mid-back, mens vs. womens scalp, different areas on front of women, even very private places]

In the past 22 years I've found about 25 of them during routine physicals, and 3 or 4 of them would have been covered quite well even if the person had only been wearing 'thong' underwear. One had seen a very good gynecologist for her 'annual' only a few weeks earlier and that physician hadn't told my patient she found anything abnormal on her exam. They are SNEAKY!

The Basals are usually the least nasty, and the Squamous ones not much nastier, but the Melanomas are evil; think angry dog, angry puma, and angry rhinocerous, respectively. Pre-cancerous crusty things called 'actinic keratosis' spots are sun-induced precursors to the non-melanoma cancers which are frozen off comonly by doctors, and reflect the fact that sun exposure probably DOES play a role in those two skin cancers.

Bottom line is make sure as a patient, you learn what to look for, check yourself where you can, and your spouse where she can't, and she do the same for you. Do it monthly, and have a family practicioner, general internist, or dermatologist do it yearly.

[kimwcook]

Well, as has been said, glad everythings kinda okay. One of my daughters had a melanoma tumor removed from her abdomen about a year ago and they had to remove quite a bit the first time with a second surgery for a little more of the surrounding area. She's okay now, but that stuff can run pretty fast. Nothing to mess around with.

[O.S.O.K.]

Thanks all for the well wishes.

Peter - PMA? etc.?

And the advice to check yourself/spouse regularly sounds like very good advice...

[Booger Bill]

This was probley two months after surgery. You dont want to see the earlier ones. The secound one is close to how I look now, but before I broke my nose again. It all started with a pimple that wouldnt heal! As a boy in wisconsin I worked in the fields, hunted and fished etc with no protection.

[deerwhacker444]

OSOK, hope things go well, as planned.

Booger, Considering you had your nose cut off, the results are bordering on amazing. Whomever did the surgery did a great job.

[O.S.O.K.]

Bill, the docs did a great job for you! The first shows the extent of the reconstruction and its amazing that it then became the second pic. That's a tough deal to go through though.. But as they say, that which doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.

[rjohns94]

Glad they caught it and that you will be recovered to full health. I have been through the melonoma trial three different times, giving a good portion of shoulder, back and side muscle and tissue to the biopsy room. I'm glad to still be here. I just got papers today to make another appt for my annual go over. Blessings

BB, you look wonderful after your healing. Looks too like it was a tough go. Glad your a fighter and here to tell your story. blessings

[Booger Bill]

Thanks. Dr. Jason Hunt did it at the Huntsman cancer hospital in salt lake city. I think I had three operations. It was a lot harder on my wife than me. She had to do all the nurseing and looking at me.

[COSteve]

Good to hear -thanks Steve.

BTW, how's your daughter doing? Fully recovered I hope.

She's on the mend and thanks for thinking of her. She's still taking the antibiotics and feeling 95% tonight.

[rjohns94]

thats good news Steve. prayers continue for a full recovery. I now return this thread to its original poster.