You want to know what really sucks

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

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Staff member
fluorouracil 5% cream that's what! That crap is more painful and unsightly than the skin cancer it's trying to get rid of. Might have to punch my doctor out when I go see him today.
 
Is that the stuff that burns and turns your skin red?? I know some guys who had to use some sort of cream for skin cancer and they didn't like it; it made their cheeks all rosy red.
 
Is that the stuff that burns and turns your skin red?? I know some guys who had to use some sort of cream for skin cancer and they didn't like it; it made their cheeks all rosy red.
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That's the stuff. It's chemotherapy in a cream. Not just my cheeks, but basically my whole face.
 
You could have them freeze it off but that isn't too much fun. Be a good boy and take your medicine. Had a friend pass away way too young from skin cancer so it can be serious.
 
I've already had Moh's procedure on an eyelid, laser removal, and plain old cutting them off. No melanoma which is the one that can put you down. If I had been raised anywhere else but the deep south I doubt I'd be having these things pop up everytime I look in the mirror. Too bad all the sun hazard things we know today wasn't around 30 years ago. I really think I'd be better off living where the sun isn't so bright and poison ivy doesn't grow. Between those two I've been dealing with skin issues since last summer. Sucks for me.
 
Eric, you'd have to go pretty far north to escape the poison ivy.

But if you want to "stick it where the sun don't shine", come on up to Maine--Long winters with short days, cool summers that often require covering up, and a generous dose of summer fog keep the sun pretty well at bay.
 
Jeff

Maine is better but Nunavut is more like it. I thought about Greenland but figured it would be nice to stay in North America.
 
Eric: I know it seems like a long time for that flourourial 5% but it will cure a lot of the problems that can occur on the facial skin. I had it on the nose and with a biopsy it was {Melanoma} and had to apply the flourourial 5% for 6 weeks then a Dr's exam and it had to be applied 2 more weeks. The second biopsy was negative, so it was worth the red nose to make sure the cancer was gone. That was 3-1/2 yrs ago. I had a lot of people stare at me but it was nice to hear that it was cleared up. Good luck!
 
Don

Michelle told me this morning I can be Rudolph at Christmas. 6 weeks is a long time for the treatment. I hope I'm only looking at 3-4 weeks. Mine is all precancer actinic keratoses. They want to kill it before it becomes basil/squamous cell carcanoma. Melanoma is nothing to mess with. Glad yours cleared.
 
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Don

Michelle told me this morning I can be Rudolph at Christmas. 6 weeks is a long time for the treatment. I hope I'm only looking at 3-4 weeks. Mine is all precancer actinic keratoses. They want to kill it before it becomes basil/squamous cell carcanoma. Melanoma is nothing to mess with. Glad yours cleared.
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I know it sucks now, but you will be very happy once you get through it. I know I was.
 
Jeff

Maine is better but Nunavut is more like it. I thought about Greenland but figured it would be nice to stay in North America. Nunavut would do it. Hope you get through this quickly and get it taken care of.
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Eric,

Ohio, "the armpit of America" has you covered on the Sun front. The military built the Ravenna Arsenal in NE Ohio because there is so much consistent cloud cover that it would be hard for spying sky eyes to see what was going on.

Can't help on the poison ivy. I tend to get nailed every year and require steroids to get rid of it.

Good luck with the treatments.

Ryan
 
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I had one pre-cancerous spot frozen off last year. So far, no others have popped up.

Hang in there, you gotta beat that crap before it changes.
 
Eric,

Can't help but laugh (with you).

We had a fair skinned cardiologist use the stuff on his entire face and head a few years back. He looked like he was from Hellraiser for over a week. BUT, it cleared up and to this day, he has done VERY well.

As posted below, Dad got an excellent result as well.

Hang in there. I think you'll be pleased with your results.

Best,
Steve

P.S. If you punch your doctor out, make sure you hit him REALLY hard and then maybe you'll get out of your co-pay....
 
Sorry that you had to go through that, Eric. Just three weeks ago, I had my dermatologist freeze about 15 spots off my face. That is the third time for me in the last three years. I now put on sun screen every day before I leave the house---yes, even in the dead of winter.
When I walked in the the doc's office he looked at me and said, "Yup, blue-eyed Norwegian---you qualify!"
Al
 
Wow, that cream sounds really uncomfortable. I visit the dermatologist once a year, every year for about the last ten. She freezes a dozen or more "pre-mals" every time, always in roughly the same spots, nose, cheeks and ears. I was just there two months ago and can already feel one of the little buggers popping up again, just a tiny little crusty spot the size of a grain of sand. When they are frozen it stings for a while but is all cleared up in a few days, I feel lucky based on what you guys report about the cream treatment.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. Doctor wants me to use the cream one more week but only once a day instead of twice. After that I'm done. Going to be Christmas before the redness is gone. Looking forward to that.
 
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