a skin thing?

As a surfer from my childhood years I escalated to surfing most days. If i wasn't surfing I was just going on or out of the surf, or at school or in latter yesrs work. Some school days would see me run home from the beach dripping wet, stuff cereal down & jog to school. At lunch break I would grab a bike & get a surf in. 

On my twenties i took up sailing. If I wasn't actually sailing I would be working on my boat getting things ready. I spent two enjoyable winters on the tropical north. 

In later life, I've mowed lawns for an income & continued to swim & sail when I can. 

As old surfers know, there's a toll on your skin. Some surfers I know have died or been treated for skin cancer, so it's a vocational hazard. 

Added to this, I have a genetic weakness towards skin cancer. My great grandmother passed in midlife & her daughter, my grandmother, had several skin grafts on her nose to manage skin cancer. 

Last month my younger brother Pete had a cancerous growth cut from his forearm. So, I thought, before I embark on a life aboard, I might get checked. I just called the clinic for results & the receptionist wanted me to see the doctor asap.I said:"Oh, it sounds urgent?". She said: "Oh no, but something will need to be done". 

Tell me not to quiver or worry. Perhaps if it wasn't on my back, i may have had it seen to earlier as I have on two other occasions over the years. Here's hoping. 

THE RESULTS are in & I have a Basal Cell Carcinoma. As I called my sister to clarify this condition, she was sat at a cafe with an Oncology Nurse. She said: " If you're going to have one, the BCC is the one you want". It doesn't spread, it won't get out of hand & is easily removed. 

So later today, I'm having a procedure to have it removed. Apart from removing stitches, the only future treatment is an annual skin check.

There is an increased risk of BCC,if you have the genes, & to my best guest I am (at least), the fourth generation host.  

5 Dec '24: My shoulder aches. Its the morning post surgery. "Its all out!", the doctor had proclaimed before asking the nurse to apply a waterproof dressing. The nurse encouraged me to take Panadol when the pain kicked in. I just smiled as if to say " What pain?". She just smiled, knowingly. 

The old guy on the next bed was having another Melanoma removed. He regailed the nurse how his first one had been treated successfully by some "wonder drug". The nurse said "You're lucky", in a surprised voice. Everyday, of the dozens of patients who originally just came in for a Skin Check, pass away following months of minor procedures & cemotherapies. 

I get to walk away, with a little pain.