Quote Originally Posted by itself View Post
Hi all,

Have any of you had skin cancer? We are very active biking and hiking, and are already very careful about using sunscreen and hats (wrong sunscreen though, we are going to change to a correct brand with the right ingredients). We wonder how this is going to impact our active lifestyle. We are scared.
hey there,
i am sorry to hear about your partner's basal cell. i have had both basal cell and squamous cell and also the mohs surgery. she will be fine.

my first basal was on my shoulder where my bra strap is and it started as a pink spot that itched, then hurt, then bled, then went away, then came back. i have a 3" scar on my shoulder from the surgery and have had no complications.

the other was a combo of the basal and squamous which was on my left cheek (face, not butt ) and i pointed it out to my derma and she didn't want to biopsy it but i made her. it came back positive for both and i had the mohs surgery shortly thereafter. no one can tell i have a 3" scar on my cheek and so far, i have had no reoccurances.

make sure your partner gets to the derma and has a full body check every 6 months because she is i think 40% more likely to have a reoccurance now that she's had one.

if you have any questions, pm me or i'll try to check back. i stay out of the sun while unprotected and haven't used a tanning bed in 6 years. we need to be our own advocates with regard to our skin (glad i made my doc do the biopsy) and we need to remember it's ok to NOT be tan.