A Timely Visit to the Dermatologist

Well my 91 year old land lady finally went with me to see the dermatologist. We were almost immediately ushered into a treatment room which had this amazing chair. The chair could be tipped, moved up or down, and looked all the world like a third-generation dentist's chair. It was obvious that someone in this chair could be operated on successfully if needed.

Above the chair was an operating light that could be swiviled, lowered and positioned to provide a super bright light on the operating field.

The nurse checked and it has been over two years since Helen had been operated on for skin cancer on her nose. Only about 5 percent of people who are operated on have a recurance of skin cancer in the same place, so Helen had beaten the odds--too bad.

A dark swarthy man came in with a huge nose. He introduced himself as the latest addition to the team of dermtologists in this clinic, and from his skin complexion and accent, I am almost certain he originally came from India.

Of course Helen, being deaf and refusing to wear her hearing aids could not hear anything the doctor was saying, so I became the de facto interpreter between the doctor speaking English with an accent and Helen. Basically I yelled into Helen's ears.

After looking at Helen's nose where the cancer is obviously recurring, the doctor wanted to do a biopsy. But Helen wasn't apparently ready for that today. So I took the initiative and asked about the possibility of freezing the cancer. Amazingly the doctor readily agreed and produced a can the had a little nozzle on it.

It looked quite a bit like a can of WD-40 lubricant on steroids, but when the doctor pressed the button on top, a little stream of super cold liquid that turned almost instantly to gas came out. He first froze a few lesions on the back of Helen's hand that I did not even realize might be cancerous. Everywhere he sprayed, it froze a thin layer of skin.

Helen has lost most of the feeling in her hands due to lack of blood circulation sometime in the past, so this proceedure did not bother her in the least. Then the good doctor turned his attention to Helen's nose. He warned her not to move lest she get some of the freezing agent into her eye.

But each time he sprayed her nose, she flinched and yelped out in pain. I was worried that he might accidently freeze Helen's eyes as she jumped around, but he was very quick and extremely patient. After about four shots of freezing liquid, he was done. The "operation" was over. The nurse put a bandaid over the afflicted place on Helen's nose.

Hopefully, this process will have killed the cancer. I don't know. Helen kept jumping around in the chair and yelling with each application of the freezing liquid. I think it is liquid helium or something like that. It is super cold whatever it is. Any way, the doctor warned that a blister will probably develop as a result of the application of freezing, and ultimately some skin will die and slough off. Hopefully, the cancer is now dead and will simply drop off.

The good doctor wants to see Helen again in three months to see how she is doing. I'm thinking that things might have gone smoother had the good doctor anesthetized Helen's nose with Novocaine or something before beginning the freezing process. Oh well. The whole thing was over in less than one minute, yelling and all.

The good news is that if you catch skin cancer at an early stage, it is very easy to treat.

Don't stay out in the sun too long.
David A. Youngs