Regular visits to the skin doctor?

[jonat]

I go yearly as well. I have no melanin in my skin at all and have frequent "actinic keratoses". Just went the other day and had a bunch frozen off.

I lived in Florida from ages 2-12, in the era before effective sunscreens, and would often get severe sunburns and blisters. I am very attuned to the dangers of melanoma.

 

[LuckyDog]

I used the fluorouracil (commonly referred to as 5FU and a big joke among pharmacy school students!) to treat the scores of keratosis that were on my nose, temples and scalp. After about 2 weeks, my face looked like hamburger. Two weeks later, it all flaked and peeled off. After 6 weeks total, I had the skin of a baby on my face! It is unsightly, but does not cause pain. I would do it again if I had to...

 

[harley]

I used the fluorouracil (commonly referred to as 5FU and a big joke among pharmacy school students!) to treat the scores of keratosis that were on my nose, temples and scalp. After about 2 weeks, my face looked like hamburger. Two weeks later, it all flaked and peeled off. After 6 weeks total, I had the skin of a baby on my face! It is unsightly, but does not cause pain. I would do it again if I had to...

Speak for yourself. I did the same recently, on top of my head. I was told "you will know when to stop" using it. I went 4 weeks, and the last two were misery. Burning pain constantly. I do agree that after two weeks it wasn't much, but those last two...yowser! But a few weeks after that, the skin was all clear, no scarring or blotching. DW keeps rubbing my head and exclaiming how smooth it is. It was definitely worth doing.

I have a friend who did the MOHS surgery on her lip, and that was pretty ugly and painful too. But after she healed up she looked fine. I can't really say which would be better to do. Whichever way you go, good luck.

 

[gailwinters]

Thanks for the good wishes. My doctor didn't try to steer me toward either treatment. She did say it would look pretty bad for awhile with the cream, but that I could cover it with a bandaid, which is what I did for the biopsy spot. I may take the weekend to decide what I want to do.

 

[jonat]

5FU is great stuff - much better (and cheaper) than the Solaraze (Diclofenac Sodium) I had been prescribed before. When I first started on Solaraze, it was about $300 a tube. Then $500 and $700. Finally, it went generic - the generic was $800 and the brand $1100!

I read about fluoruracil and asked my dermatologist to switch to it - $110 a tube and it lasts me much longer.

 

[Clone]

I will need to ask one of our our fellow church members about which process he did. He said that it looked like heck (we were in church at the time, I might have described it as something different...), but that it didn't hurt. His insurance did not cover the treatment, but this was a one-time investment, and less pain than having multiple biopsies and diggins. He said that it really was the obvious choice for him. I need to find out what and where he had that done also. When I was a kid on the farm, we roasted all summer long.

 

[harley]

Maybe I used it longer than I needed to, since I had all that pain and discomfort. Although I'm not usually accused of having a high pain threshold. DW often tells me I'm a baby, and to suck it up and walk it off. She should have been a high school coach.

 

[Carpediem]

Just curious - when using the cream (instead of MOHS), how do you know it completely did the job? With MOHS, they keep checking the margins until they're clear.

 

[LuckyDog]

The Dermatologist told me to stop using the 5FU when I told him over the phone that my face was a mess. I had told him that it was bubbled up and crusty. He said to stop the treatment and let things heal. Two weeks later, after everything peeling off, I had pink scarring and in two more weeks things were pretty much smooth as a baby's behind...

 

[jonat]

Yes, when you start using the creams (5FU or diclofenac), things will look awful for a week or so. But then the skin will clear up.

How do you know it "completely did the job"? When you can't see any evidence of the keratosis anymore. But that doesn't mean you can relax vigilance.

 

[bmcgonig]

I've had a couple of mohs and they're no fun either. They take a whole day almost and if you have a high deductible they are quite expensive. In the range of $2000 each for me. If it's only one spot I'd definitely go for the cream. Also you'll be wearing a bandage with the mohs for a couple weeks anyway. The one good thing about the mohs is that you'll be sure the BCC is gone. These things can disappear on top but still be growing quite large underneath.

 

[gailwinters]

Thanks to all of you who are sharing your experiences. I am leaning toward using the cream.

 

[UtahSkier]

So, I am blonde, blue eyes and fair skin... and grew up in the Arizona Sun. I have lots of skin damage and am always having the actinic keratosis spots frozen off my face and arms.

I have done some cream on my face back in 2010. Mostly on my forehead; temples to hair line. Lots of redness and took 4 weeks.

Last Friday I had the blue light therapy on my entire face. They first scrub my face with acetone. Yea, that felt good. Then they apply a pain killer lotion to my face and I wait 40 minutes. Then they the apply the special lotion and I wait 15 minutes.

Then I lay back on a chair, have my eyes covered and sealed, and place my head in a box. I endure 16 minutes of UV treatment. Significant heat sensation and some pain around the lips.

I have experienced the red, painful and peeling skin for nearly a week. The most affected areas are the areas I did not previously treat with the cream; temples to the chin. Feels like a very bad sun burn.

The point of this treatment is to get a comprehensive treatment over the entire face and have the whole recovery completed in about a week.

I don't have pricing yet. The cream I used years ago cost $200 to treat only my forehead. I think this blue light treatment is going to cost somewhere around $600 and they want me to do it twice.

Given the amount of redness on my cheeks, I will be doing this treatment again sometime in the fall.

 

[harley]

I've had a couple of mohs and they're no fun either. They take a whole day almost and if you have a high deductible they are quite expensive. In the range of $2000 each for me. If it's only one spot I'd definitely go for the cream. Also you'll be wearing a bandage with the mohs for a couple weeks anyway. The one good thing about the mohs is that you'll be sure the BCC is gone. These things can disappear on top but still be growing quite large underneath.

My friend who had the MOHS surgery also said it took 8 hours. They would remove a bit, send it for biopsy, wait for the results, then go back in and remove more until the results came back clean. That sounds pretty miserable.

 

[jonat]

A side comment about flourouracil cream - don't leave it out where kids or pets can get to it. I read a recent report of a dog who died after chewing up a tube that had been left out.

 

[MRG]

A side comment about flourouracil cream - don't leave it out where kids or pets can get to it. I read a recent report of a dog who died after chewing up a tube that had been left out.

+1

Good advice for all meds.

I remember being at a vet's office when a lady came in after giving Tylenol to her cat. Tylenol and cats don't get along, it's poison to them.

 

[misanman]

My friend who had the MOHS surgery also said it took 8 hours. They would remove a bit, send it for biopsy, wait for the results, then go back in and remove more until the results came back clean. That sounds pretty miserable.

My experience was that it took about 2 hours, but they did get it all with the first procedure. Biopsy of margins was clear so I went home right away. Of course, YMMV.

 

[38Chevy454]

My experience was that it took about 2 hours, but they did get it all with the first procedure. Biopsy of margins was clear so I went home right away. Of course, YMMV.

Same for me, less than half a day total. I had a spot on my cheek that the Dr cut out, sort of elongated football shape and then pulled back together. I do still have a slight scar from the incision, but since I worked as an engineer, the scar is a non-issue for me.

My melanoma scar on my back is a big divot that is definitely not so subtle. But it beats having the cancer. Being on my back it does not really bother me since I can't see it and it does not cause any discomfort.

Just went to dermatologist today, took off three spots to check. Results to find out in a week or so.

 

[Dtail]

Same for me, less than half a day total. I had a spot on my cheek that the Dr cut out, sort of elongated football shape and then pulled back together. I do still have a slight scar from the incision, but since I worked as an engineer, the scar is a non-issue for me.

My melanoma scar on my back is a big divot that is definitely not so subtle. But it beats having the cancer. Being on my back it does not really bother me since I can't see it and it does not cause any discomfort.

Just went to dermatologist today, took off three spots to check. Results to find out in a week or so.

Also have a melanoma scar (4 inch) on my back. Thankfully, they caught it early, as the doctor told me that untreated melanoma can only lead to an eventual death.

 

[harley]

Also have a melanoma scar (4 inch) on my back. Thankfully, they caught it early, as the doctor told me that untreated melanoma can only lead to an eventual death.

As does everything else. Eventually.

 

[michelek]

I just had a biopsy which turned out to be a basal cell. It's on the very tip of my nose. My doctor gave me a choice of fluorouracil cream or MOHS surgery. I opted for the cream, but I admit I'm a little freaked out by the descriptions of how awful the spot will look during treatment. I haven't picked up my prescription yet, and I'm seriously wondering if I should just go ahead and have the MOHS.

FWItsWorth. My husband did both therapies. He had the flourouracil cream after having mohs surgery and a new spot grew into a pea sized lump during the treatment due to the cream. Then he had to have more mohs surgery on the nose. They stretched the skin and did as best they could.
The doctor said sometimes the cream does that. I wondered why they would prescribe a med that causes the cancer to grow uncontrollably. Today, 10 years later, the same area is now bleeding and flaking again. Time to go back to the doc.
Might have to cut out more significantly this time.
This was our experience. YMMV.

 

[Badger]

I'm very fair skinned and have had everything under the sun but Melanoma so far. I see the dermatologist at least every 6 months and often 4X a year. This has been going on for the past 20+ years. Each time she burns off at least a dozen spots on my face and scalp. I have also had 4 Mohs surgeries and 3 other surgeries for some kind of skin cancer.

I also have used a few different versions of flourouracil (10+ times) and a blue light with a chemical treatment (6+ times). You lose track after a while. My experience with all of them has been very unpleasant/painful and only lasts for a few months each time. The flourouracil treatments take about 3-4 weeks and feels like being scalded after the first few days. The Blue light treatment is about 16 minutes after an initial chemical application and a 2 hour wait. It burns for those 16 minutes but they have a cool air hose to blow on my head or face. Then I have to stay indoors in low light for a few days. Both types of treatment make me look like I carry the plague.

This will be ongoing until the bucket is kicked but is better than skin cancer.

Cheers!