Tag: melanoma

Back & Worse Than Ever

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

I took some time away from writing this blog to do some writing (ironic, right?) and get some issues sorted with my life moving forward. One of those issues is a recurrence of cancer. Sure, I know you’re thinking, “It’s probably only skin cancer.” And it is, smarty-pants. In fact, it’s the least dangerous and least respected skin cancer – basal cell carcinoma. However, per cancer.net, about 2000 people in the US annually die from non-melanoma cancers. If left untreated for a really, really long time, basal cell can spread to bones, lymph nodes, etc. and do damage or cause death.

I face two excisions coming up starting with one next week. Both will be on my face, leaving even more scars after my numerous surgeries. I fear I will eventually end up looking like William Dafoe in Poor Things.

At least Emma Stone’s character called Dafoe’s character God in the movie, and he had good hair. I don’t see either of those things happening in my life. But there is some good news.

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Cancer is Killing Me

~ Jim Flanigan

Financially, not literally. Sorry about the clickbait headline, but it’s for a good cause to get your attention to talk about cancer. We just had World Cancer Awareness Day on the 4th of February. I was certainly aware of my cancer when my dermatologist cut out a big chunk of my back fat to keep a melanoma from spreading where it shouldn’t spread. Get checked regularly for cancer.

That’s one reason I reluctantly agreed to finally get a colonoscopy recently. The other reason is that I could make some money in the process. I was accepted into a clinical trial for a blood sample test to replace colonoscopies. My colonoscopy would be free thanks to good insurance, while the clinical trial would line my pockets with a couple hundred bucks. And then I got the bill …

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Spot On

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 4 Comments

I saw my dermatologist for one of my biannual check-ups so she can check out all my suspect spots that have developed over the past six months. As a skin cancer survivor, I take it very seriously, which is great to write about in a humor blog. Anyway, there were a few spots that concerned me. The good news is that my dermatologist dismissed almost all of them as AKs (precancers that she freezes off), SKs (harmless growths that I freeze or chemically burn off), and Special Ks. No, wait, that last one was my breakfast cereal.

But there was that one spot on my arm that neither one of us liked. We consulted with each other and agreed to take a biopsy. Fortunately, she thought it looked no worse than a basal cell carcinoma, the least dangerous of the skin cancers. And she appeared very impressed with the sebaceous cyst I lanced and drained myself. But then she dropped the news that may change the future course of my life.

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I’m Burning Off My Head & Nobody Cares

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 2 Comments

I’m burning off other parts of my body, too. And again, nobody cares. In fact, I just saw my dermatologist for my six month check-up, and when I told her about burning off my head and body bits, she gave me this …

Not listening.gif

I see her every six months for my cancer screening after she found and removed melanoma (skin cancer) from my back. At this point, I want to make it clear that this cancer survivor heartily welcomes, encourages, and appreciates your pity “Likes.” Go ahead, better click “Like” now before I die.

I have been cancer-free for almost five years now, and I do have a wicked-cool scar on my back. Although my family encourages me to NEVER remove my shirt, I do as often as possible to show-off the scar. My story for strangers sometimes strays from the truth of being a cancer survivor to being a kidney donor. I like to mix it up.

I was anxious to see my dermatologist since I was concerned about a few new spots on my back. I wanted to know if they were cancerous, or just seborrheic keratoses. That’s right, I also suffer from Seborrheic Keratosis. Sigh! Here’s a look …

SK2

That’s not so bad, right? Take a closer look … if you dare.

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