Basal Cell Carcinoma Adventures

My daughter and I have both been treated for Basal Cell Carcinoma this fall! The skin cancer was on her nose; mine was on my back. She had gone to the dermatologist because of a spot on her nose that wouldn’t heal and mine was discovered during an annual skin check that started last year because of some questionable skin issues and my age. There was a biopsy first and then a procedure. Both were small – caught early enough to be easily treated. She had MOHs surgery and mine was a shave removal/destruction. She is now an expert at fashioning a bandage for her nose, and I have recruited my husband to get the bandage placed over the wound on my back. My biopsy area was about the size of a nickel and it didn’t heal before I returned for the removal; that wound is about the size of a silver dollar!

I am old enough that I wasn’t overly surprised…but my daughter is younger than the average age for basal cell carcinoma and it’s not clear that she has any of the ‘higher risk’ behaviors. She did not get sunburned growing up; has never used a tanning bed; she is fair skinned and we applied sunscreen frequently. There might be one medicine that might had increased her risk. We also lived on the east coast for her growing up years where the air quality is sometimes yellow or red and I wonder if that might have contributed. It’s interesting that we both were diagnosed in the same month!

 The experience has left me with the realization that skin cancer is not just for the very old. The people in my family that had it were in their 80s…so older than I am now. The earlier diagnosis is probably more to do with environment (something increasing the potency of UV exposure, for example) than genetics for me and my daughter….and probably a lot of other people as well.