From sunburns to skin cancer: My ongoing battle against basal cell carcinoma

WARNING: There are graphic photos below, proceed with caution if you are squeamish.

The funny thing about recovering from skin cancer surgery is that it feels a lot like a sunburn — which is part of how I got into this mess in the first place. 

Recovering from skin cancer surgery is something I am, unfortunately, quite familiar with, having done it most of my adult life. 

Since moving to Alberta in 2006, I’ve had 27 surgeries — mostly Mohs procedures — and there were another three or four in B.C. before that.

Not a lot of fun.

For those who aren’t familiar, Mohs surgery is done under local anaesthetic, meaning you are awake but frozen, and they cut away the cancerous tissue, layer-by-layer, plus a small margin in the hope that it doesn’t come back.

That’s a sanitized way of saying they cut a chunk out of you. My pain tolerance is off the charts.

Some of my surgeons have let me film and take photos, and one even explained what the different cutaneous layers were, along with how he stitched it up to leave as faint a scar as possible.

Since there’s less pressure when you suture a straight or curved line as opposed to a round area, incisions are made on either side of where the tumour was removed, and how long of a scar you end up with depends on the size of the circle being closed. 

Most of mine look like an S and I usually ended up with somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50 to 70 stitches, which would often itch while they healed, much like a mild sunburn.

Sunburns are something else I am unfortunately familiar with. 

Growing up in Interior of B.C., we had an amazing backyard with a pool and that had a diving board and slide, which is where we spent most afternoons when it was hot. 

Especially while school was out.

That meant many sunburns on my head, shoulders and back — where most of my cancers have been.

I’ve been ‘lucky’ so far, if you can call it that, as my tumours have been basal cell carcinomas, some invasive and some non-invasive. 

Basal cell carcinoma is one of the most common forms of skin cancer and is rarely fatal, but can lead to negative outcomes if you don’t get it treated.

Wear sunscreen and have someone check your head and back a few times a year.

My cancers usually start as a small blemish or spot. Sometimes it looks like a pimple or a mosquito bite that you scratched too hard, and they won’t heal. 

Then it starts to expand.

Right now I’m dealing with three spots, one on the side of my forehead, one on the inside of my ear, and one on the side of my knee.

There’s a bunch more on my back as well. 

Biopsies showed one of the three — on my ear — is invasive. That area of the body has a lot of lymph nodes, plus I’m not so keen about a 28th surgery, so my dermatologist and oncologist got me a compassionate acceptance to try a drug — vismodegib — which normally costs upward of $14,000, per month. I basically take a pill at the same time every morning and it will help my immune system fight the cancer, which can be quite the war.

As I understand, it is an immunotherapy drug that inhibits the hedgehog pathway (yes, there is one named Sonic), which I’m still reading all about.

One thing about cancer is it motivates people to read and learn. It also motivates you to get healthy.

I’ve been taking the drug for a couple weeks now and the side effects have been mild for me. 

According to the stats, 65 per cent of people who take vismodegib experience hair loss, and 85 per cent have muscle cramps and spasms. Nearly everyone experiences a change in taste. 

The change in taste has been the only big side effect for me so far, there is a background note of metal in my mouth. My lips also feel dry and I’ve had some nausea, but only at about a two or three-out-of-10. 

Haven't had any real muscle cramps or spasms thus far, and I'm taking electrolytes to help keep it that way.

I’m not alone in this.

Along with the team of doctors and oncologists overseeing my care, thousands of people across the country are going through the same thing, which gives me an odd solace of sorts.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society this year alone, 11,300 Canadians will be diagnosed with melanoma, a more serious form of skin cancer, and 1,300 will die. 

Looking at all cancers, 247,100 people will be diagnosed this year, and 88,100 will die from the disease. 

Deaths are 37 per cent higher in males than females. The most common form of cancer diagnosed in men is prostate and in women it is breast. 

So my call to action is this: Join me on this journey. I’m told the average treatment time with vismodegib is seven months and I will write about my progress along the way.

And check yourself. Look at your skin. Every nook, cranny and fold. Pay attention to moles, freckles or blemishes, especially ones that suddenly appear and won’t go away. 

Talk to your doctor. 

And wear sunscreen.