Dealing with Basal Cell Carcinoma: A Secondhand Account

For the second time in his life, my husband, Jim, was diagnosed with cancer last summer. He had a small place on his cheek that looked like a pimple, but it would not clear up. The place started out very small, but as the months went by, it grew larger, until he could no longer ignore it. By the time he went to a dermatologist, the tumor was about three centimeters around on the surface of his skin.

The examination took place in the doctor's office. The doctor felt it with his fingers, measured it, and then did a biopsy on the first visit. To do the biopsy, the doctor first drew a circle around the tumor with a marker. Then he inserted a hypodermic needle inside the circle and administered a combination medication that was for pain and to reduce the amount of bleeding when they took the sample of tissue. After the medicine was injected, we waited about 25 minutes for the pain medication to take full effect. The doctor came back in and cut a piece of tissue from the center of the circle that was about the size of a pencil eraser.

Ten days later, we were back in the doctor's office for the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma. The doctor explained that the three main types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. He said if you have to have a skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma is the one you want to have. The treatment for basal cell carcinoma is to remove the tumor surgically. There is no need for chemotherapy or for radiation treatment for this type of cancer.

The same day that we went back for the results of the biopsy, the doctor did the surgery to remove the tumor right there in his office. The tumor turned out to be quite large under the surface. It required four stitches inside the incision and nine stitches on the outside to close the wound. The doctor gave Jim some antibiotic ointment to apply topically. For ten days after the surgery, the wound looked very ugly. The fear of an ugly disfiguring scar was one of the things that kept my husband from going to the doctor. But after the stitches came out, it is barely noticeable, because the doctor made the incision in a naturally occurring wrinkle line in my husband's face.

The doctor also told us that my husband would have to be examined by a dermatologist every two months for the first year post op, and then every six months for the rest of his life. He advised my Jim to wear a hat or sunscreen when working or playing outside, because exposure to the sun can cause a recurrence of basal cell carcinoma.