I beat you again....CANCER!

I look at the healthy journey my husband and I have been on this past year on NM. What a ride! What a change we have both made. I kept saying this was a life time change to be healthy. I was reminded by my husband that I wasn’t being true to myself and my new way of thinking if I didn’t take care of the body totally. He was right! Did I just say that? I will whisper that so he doesn’t hear those words…..He was right!
I was so busy taking care of my hub, changing our eating habits, lowering our cholesterol, getting him down to half his meds…..well, I forgot about taking care of my health problems. I really just wanted them to go away so I told myself I was fine. I was eating right; lost the weight a while back on my journey, logged every bite, and exercised. Most of yall know I am a cancer survivor, thirteen years now. I know better to put skin cancer off because it is the number one cancer that can take your life. I have had a spot right between my eyes that was so small, but wasn’t getting well for about a year now, then in the last couple of months it just healed over leaving a very tiny hole which scared over. I knew what it was when it didn’t get well, and hay, I thought it was ok since it finally stopped bleeding and closed up.

Before
(the scared area above the frown line that looks like a circle)

I gave in two weeks ago to see my dermatologist who normally has a hay day freezing at least 30 to 50 small spots. I’m really fair and with those weird magnifying glasses he wears he always sees the ones I don’t. I have also been having an elephant stand on my chest trying to crush it with pain that seems so unbearable. With that, I was putting it off like that sore on my forehead, thinking it will just stop…..it didn’t, has gotten worse. That takes me back to my hubby being right!
This is my schedule from two weeks ago all the way to August 30th…… Saw Dermatologist who sent me to see Surgeon, who scheduled a biopsy with at least a 1” sweep with a pathologist to test while I’m open, for cancer. 1” is a lot when it is right between your eyes. The pathologist will be able to let the surgeon know how much to cut out or continue sweeping. Because he also does plastic surgery he is going to try to make it not disfigured there……I hope. I won’t be put under, which also scares me because the two nerves on each side of the eye and sinus has to be dead before he continues. I’m reliving the nightmare I went thru 13 years ago which had already went 2 centimeters down and 6 inches across on the top center of my scalp. I have a big hole there with only a skin graft covering my skull. No hair, no feelings. Hopefully this doctor will not give me another bird bath between my eyes or a unibrow after closing me up. I saw my well women doctor also, who sent me to a GI doctor, who sent me to a GI Specialist center who will go a upper and lower GI next Thursday. On top of all that, I see the Cardio doctor the 30th for a stress test. I had blood work and EKG yesterday……..It doesn’t stop there! I will properly fail the stress test because we are having a medal roof put on our house; I have no roof at the moment. The first day a worker fell thru my bedroom ceiling leaving a new skylight I didn’t order. They tarped the whole house, it stormed two days last week, leaking in four rooms and ruining our ceilings. They came back and added more tarps, 50 % chance rain the next few days, and the medal isn’t in yet to continue. Then the hub walks in Sunday and said he felt something in his lower abdomen pop. He did! He has a Hugh hernia! Stress? You bet, but my logs look good! Lol!
I guess the point I’m trying to make with this long boring post is that just because you lost the weight with NM, stayed with it, logged every bite, went for the green, got off that couch, or feel better. STOP! Look at the whole package! NM teaches us to balance the whole body, so don’t look the other way like I did. Take care of your whole package. The outside, the mental and physical side, and the inside!

Surgery Update……I was so nervous as I lay on the table waiting for the Doctor to come in and talk first. His nurse was busy strapping me in, I guess so I wouldn't change my mind and run. James was sitting in a sit down past my feet and I was worried he may pass out when they did begin. The doctor came in, talked a bit before he began shooting that long needle in the corners of my eyes and nose. He said it might hurt, it might burn….All I could think at that painful moment was how my granddaughter of four told me to think about the bubble and that I could let it go when it was all over. I also thought about how God was standing there holding my hand and telling me about all the prayers and well wishes that have poured in to him from so many friends and family. He draped my face and taped it down so all that was showing was the operating area, then he left the room with, “I’ll be back as soon as your face is numb.” I lay there still, listening to my husband talk now and then and trying to keep me calm. I’m so thankful he was there for me!

When Dr. Gurley came back , he talked thru the whole surgery so I would know what he was doing above my draped face. He cut a round hole about size of a nickel or bigger and dug down to cut out a skin section as far down as he could go and the removed about the size of a green pea. He then cordasized the bleeding and sent the cut out section with a runner to the pathologist. I had to lay there with the hole in my head (don't laugh, I know yall thought I already had one). What seemed forever as we waited was finally ended as the doctor received the news………………..He said, "It was Cancer”……..”But we got it all”………

After

I couldn't have heard any better news!!!! They got it all! All that was left was to close that hole up. I’m so glad my doctor was also a plastic surgeon because he couldn't have done a prettier job. He was able to take the frown line I had between my eyes and use that to pull the skin he needed to close me up. (Kids, don't do this at home! Its not worth all this to get a tight forehead with no frown line). Thirty minutes or so and Eleven stitches later I was sitting in a restaurant eating dinner with my husband. I had a few looks like I was Frankenstein, but let them look…….They got it all!!

I still have the GI series and stress test to get over with, but I’m not as stressed as with the word Cancer can do to a person. Please, don't put off your health. Remember, your whole body needs Balanced, not just your weight or the way you look. Balance takes place inside and outside!

Skin Cancer Notes you should know:

Basal cell carcinoma starts in the top layer of the skin called the epidermis. It grows slowly and is painless. A new skin growth that bleeds easily or does not heal well may suggest basal cell carcinoma. The majority of these cancers occur on areas of skin that are regularly exposed to sunlight or other ultraviolet radiation. They may also appear on the scalp. Basal cell skin cancer used to be more common in people over age 40, but is now often diagnosed in younger people.
Moh's Surgery: The visible cancer is removed and viewed by a pathologist under a microscope while the wound is still open. If the radius is clear of cancer then the surgeon closes up. If not then the surgeon gently removes more skin until the area is clear.
Skin Graft: Surgery in which the damaged skin is removed and replaced with healthy skin from another site on the body. In my case, it was from behind my ear.
Surgery using a flap: Damaged skin is removed and then a "flap" of loose skin is pulled over to cover the wound.
I have had both....