Squamous cell skin cancer - wikimedia commons[/caption]Carol Forsloff---The nose is a high risk place for skin cancer. From childhood on, almost every year mine turned red, even after moments in the sun. Growing up in Oregon in the early 1940’s and 50’s, people had not heard of sunscreen, and instead used coconut oil to allow the skin to tan as opposed to burn. Here is my personal experience of the consequences many people have as they face aging issues, skin cancer and reconstruction.
My nose never tanned, and the result of sunburns in my early years became dramatically painful after I turned 60. That's because those sunburns had become small sores diagnosed as skin cancer, requiring surgeries
I had two Moh’s surgeries on my nose, one after I turned 60, in 2001 and another six years later. But it was when I had a more aggressive cancer on my nose in 2013 that I learned how important it is to prevent sunburns and to take precautions in one’s early years. So it is with this admonition, on how to care for yourself I have done this video, that sunscreen and a hat are critical essentials from childhood to the grave, even on those colder days when the sun’s rays don’t look obvious.
Skin grafts and nose surgery are procedures that according to historians go back thousands of years, with sometimes strange results, as doctors tried everything from using the buttocks of slaves to places on the arm and other parts of the body to cover wounds after cancer sores were removed. But it wasn’t until the 20th century these procedures were refined, so that surgeons now use nasal reconstruction using a paramedial forehead flap.
The details of the process are on the Internet on both medical sites, such as Medscape, and YouTube where a few individuals have shared their personal experiences with this surgery. Suffice to say, it is debilitating and disfiguring and requires many weeks of recovery at various stages. It is one of those operations we might define as potentially painful and difficult. Yet when the surgery is done well, as it usually is, the result can be dramatically favorable.
Still the surgeon’s hand needs help, and that’s what this video is all about. It is done with major gratitude to Dr. Dieter F. Hoffman of Kaiser in Portland, Oregon, whose surgical artistry provides the foundation for that gruesome to glamorous journey, for it will take additional time to heal wounds from a surgery that took place just 10 weeks ago. But I can do it, and others can as well. Those of you who facr skin changes in your later years can also benefit from this information. At the same time, anyone who finds a sore that does not heal anywhere should see a dermatologist for an evaluation for the possibility of skin cancer.
