# "Chicks dig scars" right?



## WillBrink (Dec 21, 2009)

I hope, as a friend said to me jokingly "chicks dig scars" 'cause I have me a shiny new one on my chest. Had an inflamed   red patch on my chest, which on biopsy, was  basal cell carcinoma; e.g., skin cancer. 

Yes, had been meaning to get it looked at, but it looked like classic  actinic keratosis (a type of skin damage due to radiation/sun exposure) which can over time, convert to cancer, but recently started looking more inflamed... Usually converts to a more malignant type then your basic basal cell, which is especially non malignant. 

As scary as the C word is, shouldn't be much drama, and I  had it removed under just a local at doctors office (my friend the plastic surgeon) and get looked over once a year by a Derm. It is a good sized scar however as it was a pretty big patch.

I do have a few other spots of  actinic keratosis, which will get taken care of with Imiquimod (Aldara) cream.

I spent a lot of time on boats, the ocean, working out doors, etc as a kid, sans any sun screen (hey, it was the 70s and 80s, we didn't know any better...) and experience with medical related radiation, but I have avoided lying in the sun and always use sun screen. 

Interesting to note, there is a big debate currently on the causes of skin cancers, and some very mainstream scientists simply not agreeing with the simple sunlight exposure = skin cancer. 


“This is the same sun-phobic message we’ve been getting from dermatologists for more than 40 years,” said Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine.

Holick, who’s written several books and conducted hundreds of peer-reviewed studies on sun exposure and vitamin D, is at the forefront of a growing number of health and medical professionals who are questioning conventional wisdom when it comes to the dark side of the sun.

Holick argues that what others call “damage” to skin from light tanning is more like sore muscles after a good workout.

“Mother Nature designed us for sun exposure,” Holick said. “You shouldn’t go out and bake, by any means, but you can get a mild tan without significantly increasing your chances of getting cancer.”

Holick notes that studies suggest those who work indoors have higher rates of skin cancer than those who work outside in the sun all day. Meanwhile, skin cancer rates are climbing faster than a Fourth of July thermometer, even as more Americans are slathering on more and more sunscreen.

All this, however, comes as levels of vitamin D have been plummeting.
‘D’ for deficient

A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that more than three in four Americans are in short supply of vitamin D.

“We found a marked increase in vitamin D deficiency over the past two decades,” said lead researcher Adit Ginde, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine.

Low levels of vitamin D can lead to weak bones, heart disease, diabetes, infections, and a variety of cancers and other ugly stuff. In short: The body needs it. And where do you get it? A few foods and supplements are a good start, but it’s the sun that really cranks it out.

“Since sunlight is the body’s major source of vitamin D, increases in sunscreen, sun avoidance and overall decreased outdoor activity, while successful in reducing skin cancers, has probably reduced vitamin D levels in the population,” Ginde said.
Balanced approach

“This is a real controversy right now,” said Michael Murphy, a former Army dermatologist who now runs his own skin cancer clinic in the Indianapolis area.

Cont: 

http://www.armytimes.com/offduty/health/offduty_sun_tan_dangers_070209w/

Funny, I had just started doing some research on this topic, and had no idea how personal that research would be...There's a simple blood test to see if one had enough active vitamin D in their system, which I will request next time I for blood work me thinks....

So, lesson here is, if you have any red spots, etc you are not sure what it is (acne, etc) get it checked out. There are many things that are not cancer (e.g., various keratosis, moles, etc), that left there long enough, can become malignant, so it's worth getting them removed before they can convert. I, being busy, etc, etc, let it sit there too long...

Merry X Mass and all that crap.... :o


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## 08steeda (Dec 21, 2009)

Wife had it several times on her arms. Thank god not near her chest!!! Feel better Doc!


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## Gypsy (Dec 21, 2009)

Shame on you for not getting checked out sooner, but glad they got it.   My dad had, among other things, skin cancer...not a good thing at all.

Take good care.  And get your Vitamin D.   They say 1000u is what we need...


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## Headshot (Dec 21, 2009)

Sorry to hear of that Will and hope it stays put.  One of the things most people don't even think about is the fact that the largest organ of the human body is the skin.  If you buy anything to put on your skin and it says not to ingest it because it will cause damage to your internal organs, then why would you put it on your skin.  In other words, if you can't eat it then don't apply it to your skin.  As far as sunscreen goes, read the label and look at all the chemicals in it.  Now, take those chemicals and put them on your skin and let the sun bake them in to your body fro several hours...hmmm, is it sun or chemical problems/reactions that occur?  The sun is needed for naturally occurring vitamin D, and if you look at the maps with the highest incidence of breast cancer in women, most of it is where there is the least sun exposure.  This is a "follow the money" situation.  The drug companies have their hands in everything so if they tell you the sun is dangerous and you avoid it, then you get all kinds of maladies that they have the magic pill for.  If you don't avoid the sun then you use chemical based sunscreen which causes all kinds of maladies, that they again have the magic pill for.  I could go on for hours about this shit and start with the topic of milk and still be on that one til the morning.  Get yourself educated by a homeopathic practitioner and then make your decisions based from an integrative perspective instead of just what someone who was educated by the drug companies in medical school has to say.  Stay well!!


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## 8'Duece (Dec 21, 2009)

Just don't get scars on your face.  Chicks don't dig em, and I hate em. 

Glad it was benign Will.  Stay tight.

By the way the skin is referred too as the "Integumentary system"  .......................


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## DA SWO (Dec 21, 2009)

Just tell them it's a vasectamy scar, youmight  get laid.


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## txpj007 (Dec 21, 2009)

Headshot said:


> Get yourself educated by a homeopathic practitioner and then make your decisions based from an integrative perspective instead of just what someone who was educated by the drug companies in medical school has to say.


 
my wife refuses to take hardly any meds anymore because of crazy side effects.  she always seems to get the weird/rare ones on the bottle.  were dealing with the dissipation of a depo provera shot as we speak.:eek:  homeopathic is the way to go imo if you can help it at all.  headshot please dont ruin my day with something bad about milk...shit i drink organic skim so its more like water anyways.  sorry for hijacking the thread...

glad to hear everything is ok Will.  i had a knot in my thigh a couple of years ago when i was 26 that was thought to be cancer for a while.  was a scary time...only upside to the situation was getting to go to the oncology center at the University of Florida and seeing all the sophomore sorority chicks walking around campus....it was like a never ending ocean of babes


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## Headshot (Dec 22, 2009)

txpj007 said:


> glad to hear everything is ok Will.  i had a knot in my thigh a couple of years ago when i was 26 that was thought to be cancer for a while.  was a scary time...


 
No need to worry unless it spreads to his neck.


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

Gypsy said:


> Shame on you for not getting checked out sooner, but glad they got it.   My dad had, among other things, skin cancer...not a good thing at all.
> 
> Take good care.  And get your Vitamin D.   They say 1000u is what we need...


 
Actually, they are recommending more like 5-7000 IU of D3 at this point, but best way to know if it's the right dose for you is via blood work that looks at 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 50 ng/dl recommended.


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

Thanx for your support everyone, much appreciated.


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## Polar Bear (Dec 22, 2009)

How about you quit turning every thread into an ad for supplements. I am tired of reading the crap. It is a damn infomercial. You quote shit from articles that support YOUR view. For once come up with something original. Am I being to harsh, maybe but I am staying in my lane because at 12:38 today I got a call saying I have Basal Cell Cancer. So they get to take a hunk of flesh out of my face. So everyone instead of wasting your money on some screwed up supplement, eat right, use sunscreen and send the money you would have spent on supplements to PB.
Don't PM me Will, talk to Boon I have zero patience for the witch doctor talk. If I am out of lane I will take the punishment


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

Polar Bear said:


> How about you quit turning every thread into an ad for supplements.



How about you read the thread before commenting?



Polar Bear said:


> I am tired of reading the crap.



Then don't read it. Cliffs for you: I have basal cell, found recent article (in The Army Times) that there is a debate as to whether sun exposure, or lack of Vite D, or both is the cause, and recommended people might want to get their vite D status checked as I plan to do. Aint no fucking informmercial in that, and fuck you very much for suggesting it. 



Polar Bear said:


> I got a call saying I have Basal Cell Cancer. So they get to take a hunk of flesh out of my face.



Had my hunk taken out yesterday, and have to use medication to kill off a few other spots. 









Polar Bear said:


> So everyone instead of wasting your money on some screwed up supplement, eat right, use sunscreen and send the money you would have spent on supplements to PB.
> Don't PM me Will, talk to Boon I have zero patience for the witch doctor talk. If I am out of line I will take the punishment



Either ban me, or put you back in line, either is fine with me.


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## LibraryLady (Dec 22, 2009)

Prayers out to both WB and PB - cancer of any sort no matter where on your body is nothing to sneeze at.

PB, my Dad's been dealing with it on his face, ears, neck, shoulders and upper back for years. The scars fade fairly quickly and aren't real noticeable on the neck, face and ears - the skin is a different type there than the rest of your body.  His shoulders and back, the scars sort of blend in with his wrinkles and freckles.  As Dad learned what to watch for, they've been able to catch most of it when it's in a pre-cancerous stage.  That early they use a creme, which gives him a bad sunburn kind of look and the bad stuff peels off.

LL


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

LibraryLady said:


> Prayers out to both WB and PB - cancer of any sort no matter where on your body is nothing to sneeze at.
> 
> PB, my Dad's been dealing with it on his face, ears, neck, shoulders and upper back for years. The scars fade fairly quickly and aren't real noticeable on the neck, face and ears - the skin is a different type there than the rest of your body.  His shoulders and back, the scars sort of blend in with his wrinkles and freckles.  As Dad learned what to watch for, they've been able to catch most of it when it's in a pre-cancerous stage.  That early they use a creme, which gives him a bad sunburn kind of look and the bad stuff peels off.
> 
> LL


 
Thank you for your thoughts. The larger area had to be removed, and the cream I will be using on a few other smaller spots. The newer cream (name listed in OP) is pretty amazing stuff from what I have been reading. Had I not let that red patch go so long, would have been able to use the cream on that too. Some lessons in life have to get learned the hard way...good luck to your father.


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## Crusader74 (Dec 22, 2009)

Get well Soon Will.


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

Irish said:


> Get well Soon Will.


 
Thank you sir. It sucks being reminded the human machine is not perfect, no matter how hard we try or how much we wish it were not so....


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## Crusader74 (Dec 22, 2009)

I have seen first hand about the C word and don't like to talk about it..which is why my get well soon posts are just that. Finding out about PB is shocking enough but to find out two is a sad reminder of my experience..

I genuinely hope you both return to full health as soon as possible.


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## x SF med (Dec 22, 2009)

May you both get and stay healthy.

Oh, BTW...  Use frigging sunscreen, wear a hat, and wear good polarized sunglasses (they help prevent sun damage to the eyes and reduce the incidence of cataracts).

Will, I'd like to make a request - please cite your 'snips' so the full articles and authors can be found for further reading/reference. Thanks.


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## WillBrink (Dec 22, 2009)

x SF med said:


> May you both get and stay healthy.
> 
> Oh, BTW...  Use frigging sunscreen, wear a hat, and wear good polarized sunglasses (they help prevent sun damage to the eyes and reduce the incidence of cataracts).
> 
> Will, I'd like to make a request - please cite your 'snips' so the full articles and authors can be found for further reading/reference. Thanks.


 
You know I always cite or give the source. You will find a link to the Army Times article in my thread. Thanx for the well wishes.


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## Polar Bear (Dec 22, 2009)

Oh and I read the thread I thought maybe for ONCE you would have something useful to read....NOT...I have to read everything and even more since half your shit gets reported as witch doctor shit. I have already pointed this out to you many times but for some reason you can not remember it. Have you thought about trying the the supplement ginkgo biloba. I heard it will help the memory


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## Headshot (Dec 22, 2009)

Will, I talked to my wife, the cell expert (MCAS, Molecular/Cytotechnology Applications Specialist), earlier about yours and PB's location of the Basal Cells and she brought up a good point considering I was able to give her a little background on both of you.  Her thoughts were this; PB's is consistent with his line of work and overexposure to the sun, she said yours is most likely caused by tanning bed overexposure.  She deals with cancer cells of all types every single day and there's not much of anything she can't nail when it comes to identifying it.  I was wondering if this might be a root cause based on your history?  Your thoughts (mic in face)?


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## Snaquebite (Dec 22, 2009)

Not necessarily, depends on how they were acquired.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Dec 22, 2009)

Snaquebite said:


> Not necessarily, depends on how they were acquired.


 
The tanning bed exposure? I think my wife just bought a membership to a tanning bed place and started going... I would not know how the "menz" be doing it...


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## AWP (Dec 23, 2009)

WillBrink said:


> and fuck you very much for suggesting it.



If anyone on this board wants to disagree on a topic, no matter how heated, I'm totally fine with that, but dropping the old "fuck you" is not only insulting, it is also the last refuge of a shallow mind. I guess "yo momma" wasn't appropriate here? So, any member telling another member "fuck you" is certain to garner some attention from myself or the staff.



> Either ban me, or put you back in line, either is fine with me.



Easy enough, chief. If you come back, that's your call. If you get sporty on your return I can "fix the glitch" like Lumbergh.

Happy Holidays.


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## pardus (Dec 23, 2009)

J.A.B. said:


> The tanning bed exposure? I think my wife just bought a membership to a tanning bed place and started going... I would not know how the "menz" be doing it...


 
From my understanding tanning beds are far more dangerous than the sun. True or not, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't use one* even if I was so inclined. :2c:








* If you're a guy and use a tanning bed, you're gay.


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