Skip to main content

If Mantle Cell Lymphoma can't get me

Hopefully a basal cell carcinoma can't either.

My dermatologist called Friday evening, and informed me the [small] growth on my forehead (that he biopsied two weeks ago) was a basal cell carcinoma, and since he had a cancellation on his schedule, he could squeeze me in Monday morning to have it removed.

The operation seems simple enough. It's outpatient surgery, using a local anesthetic, and I can go home immediately after it's finished. The only issue being I can't exert myself at all for the rest of the day.

Normally that wouldn't be so bad, except Monday is my bowling day, but I think my health is just a little more important, and there'll be plenty more days to bowl. Plus I'd have to wait another 6 weeks if I didn't do it this Monday, and I'm not willing to do that.

One other thing was the doctor informed me I shouldn't drink any alcohol, as that can sometimes cause excessive bleeding. I only wish he'd told me that before I opened a good bottle of Pinot Noir for dinner. So I just drank a little less than I normally would have.

So now it's just more wait and worry, but I should be used to that by now. After all, I've been doing for the past 10+ years.

Comments

Alan said…
Here in Florida you won't find anyone over age 60 who's not had at least one basal cell. No reason to worry. They never metastasize.
Marc said…
Does that go for you too?
Alan said…
Do you mean me having a basal cell? If so, yes, of course.

Popular posts from this blog

My concerns reaffirmed today

When I was first diagnosed with MCL, I pretty much read just about everything I could get my hands on, I attended various conferences, and I talked to anyone who would listen. One of the most important lessons I learned, and which I've mentioned numerous times before was No one cares more about you than you. But in addition to that, I learned to fear the drug Doxorubicin , AKA Adriamycin, Doxil, Hydroxydoxorubicin, or more affectionately the Red Devil. Besides being a deadly chemical, as is the case with most chemotherapy drugs, it is one of the few chemotherapy drugs known to cause permanent heart damage. I even heard Dr. Sandra Horning , a noted Stanford lymphoma specialist, state at the first lymphoma conference I attended in LA, there was no evidence Doxorubicin provided any added benefit to chemotherapy protocols. This was music to my ears, since Doxorubicin is very common in most lymphoma treatment protocols. And even though Dr. Horning has since changed her tune [which my sk...

Bowling: A metaphor on life [sorta]

Over the past 15+ years the game of bowling has changed dramatically. Not only has the equipment changed, making it easier for bowlers of all ages and physical conditions to participate, and score well, but there have even been major advances to how the lanes are prepared for the start of bowling. No longer is it just heavy oil, light oil, long oil, short oil, or no oil, with the latest equipment, the amount of oil can be varied from front to back and side to side, producing a myriad of patterns designed to make the game more interesting, more challenging and as you might surmise, more frustrating. No longer does the "one ball fits all" approach work any more either. In order to navigate all the differing possible lane conditions, you need to have a varied selection of bowling balls. Most pros will tell you the average bowler needs 3 balls, plus a ball for spares, but to be an above average bowler you'll need at least 6 balls, with many possessing more than that. But just...

Fatigue! Part II - Maybe it is real?

Or it's actually Motivational Deficiency Disorder, MoDeD (pronounced Mo-Dee-Dee) for short. In a report this week by Roy Moynihan who reports for the British Medical Journal Austrailian scientists may have come across the reason for extreme laziness . The condition is claimed to affect up to one in five Australians and is characterised by overwhelming and debilitating apathy. Neuroscientists at the University of Newcastle in Australia say that in severe cases motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe. Neurologist Leth Argos is part of the team that has identified the disorder, which can be diagnosed using a combination of positron emission tomography and low scores on a motivation rating scale, previously validated in elite athletes. "This disorder is poorly understood," Professor Argos told the BMJ. "It is underdiagnosed and undertreated." Who knew? Maybe I have MoDeD, from my attempts to become a...