Cancer
Yesterday I received a phone call from Jolyn, informing me that a test result had come back that she had cancer. Luckily for us it is the nicest form of cancer that one can get, “Basil Cell Carcinoma”. There was a mole on her upper right cheek (her face cheek) that had looked a little different and she had that feeling to get it looked at. So she went in and they removed it and biopsied the mole and it came back cancerous. The doctor said it was probably due to the over exposure she had as a child to the sun. She grew up on a cattle ranch where there were many days of horse back riding pushing herds from one area to another in the direct sun.
There are two types of cancer cells, both are deadly if not treated. Carcinoma stays isolated to the infected area. You can remove the diseased tissue and remove the cancer, no further treatments are required. Melanoma is the kind you don’t want. It can spread to different organs and requires chemotherapy and radiation to treat.
The doctor says there are two types of methods for removal. One is the usual method of removing a block of skin tissue around the mole, down to the muscle and then stitching it up. This method has a 95% survival ratio. The second method is similar, except they go in and remove a smaller portion of tissue surface area, while the wound is still open, you sit back and read a book for an hour. They take the removed tissue and test all the surface areas to ensure they have removed all the cancer. If they missed an area, they go back and remove more skin as needed. Once they are sure they have it all, they stitch up the wound. This procedure has a 98% of survival. Both procedures are done through a plastic surgeon.
In either case, I don’t like that there is a 2% or a 5% chance that they can miss the cancer. In either case both of us are confident that everything will go well. It has been very interesting the various thoughts that have run through both of our minds, playing out various scenarios. All of a sudden neither of us feel so invincible.
Tags: cancer
February 17th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Glad that everything is okay and that it isn’t too serious. Although could totally understand how it would make you want to stop and smell the roses a little more. We love our Jolyn!
February 17th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Yea we’ll have a better idea of how bad it is when we meet with the plastic surgeon. They haven’t called us to schedule an appointment yet. The dermatologist said it would take a few weeks. We’ll keep you abreast of future progress.