Sun Spots

 So probably over a year ago, I told Nathan he needed to get a spot under his eye looked at.  It wasn't a mole, but I felt like the texture and size was changing and I really started getting concerned about it possibly being a skin cancer spot.  Because he's a man and they don't seem to go to the doctor unless blood is spurting, it took quite a while of convincing.

When he finally asked me to schedule an appointment with a dermatologist, I knew he must be (at least slightly) concerned as well.  The first appointment, they cut off the top of the spot and then did a biopsy on it.  They called a week or so later to let him know IT WAS skin cancer.  Nathan walks by me as we are getting ready to leave one day and says, "that was the doctor, it's cancer".  We were actually headed to a doctor's appointment for Chase, so I was confused on what he was even talking about since it came so random as he was just walking by.

Nathan was very calm about the whole thing.  Apparently he had diagnosed himself already - through WebMD :) - and was just waiting on the real doctor to confirm what he already knew.  Thankfully his cancer spot was basal cell carcinoma, which is rarely life-threatening and seldom spreads beyond the detected area or "tumor".  Because it was on his face, he is at a higher risk of having other cancerous spots seeing how all of his face has been exposed the same amount.  

I know MANY people go through this and deal with scary and much more serious illnesses, but when your husband mentions to you that he has CANCER of any form, it takes your breath away just a bit!  

He was able to have a procedure on February 11th to remove the cells.  They went in and removed all of the cancerous cells and enough of the good cells around the area that they feel comfortable saying they got it all.  Whew!  It was a pretty simple procedure and Nathan claimed it wasn't that painful.  He did say for a "lesser man" it may have been difficult to handle - hahaha - but he handled it like a champ!  Considering the bruising and swelling from the stitches, he's healing very well.  The scar is so minimal I don't know that most people would even notice!

We were a good 30 years younger than most of the people in the waiting room that day.  It was interesting to me that this is most common in people 45 to 54 years told.  Nathan has worked outside (for the most part) since High School and not taken precaution when it came to sun exposure.  This is certainly something we are looking out for now and intend to deal with proactively with Chase!

 Skin cancer is about three times more common in men than in women, and the risk increases with age. Most people diagnosed with skin cancer are between ages 45 and 54, although all forms of the disease are appearing more often in younger people. If you or any close relatives have had skin cancer, you are more likely to get the disease. Geography and race also factor into your chances of getting skin cancer, with the rate of skin cancer at its highest where fair-skinned Caucasians migrated to an area with higher annual sun exposure than their prior climates.