No topic is immune to a humorous perspective
Cancer is a scary word, no doubt about it. It conjures images of suffering and despair like few others. I liken dying of a stroke or heart attack to dying in an action movie; intense but soon over. But dying of cancer is more like dying in a horror movie, eaten alive but slowly. -Shudder-
Any type of cancer is still cancer, and is not to be ignored. Still, basal cell skin cancer is highly treatable so I expect you'll be posting here for many more years. I've had both basal and squamous removed via MOHS surgery. Each time, when the surgeon was done cutting, I looked in a mirror, a la Jack Nicholson as The Joker. When I saw the massive crater in my face I thought "Wow, I've got a future career as a carnival freak show exhibit!" The hole was half the size of my palm. Pretty disturbing.
But she stitched it up beautifully and today there's a scar so minor you'd never see it unless you knew it was there and had a magnifying glass.
Like most guys, I have an unfortunately cavalier attitude toward my own health in many ways: eat too much, drink too much, exercise too little. However, my experience has sensitized me to cancers in general. I get annual skin exams, 5 year colonoscopies, etc., which I probably would not have bothered with had the Big C not hit so close to home.
Anyway, all's well that ends well. I didn't endure a "horror movie death". I didn't even suffer permanent disfigurement, so if my FIRE plan should fail then I'm outta luck trying to snag that circus sideshow job!
P.S. There are slow-growing cancers, notably some forms of prostate cancer, where "watchful waiting" is the recommended course. I don't consider that "ignoring" it, since the key word is "watchful".
