About four or
five years ago, my mother had a growth on her nose. At first, we just thought
it was a pimple and hoped it would go away. It changed very slowly at first.
Then in a week it almost doubled in size. I scheduled an appointment with Mom’s
internist. He took one look at the spot and said, “Basal cell carcinoma.” He
feared it had grown too large, taking up part of her left nostril, so he
referred us to a plastic surgeon for removal and fixing the hole it would
leave.
We arrived a
couple of days later at a plastic surgeon’s office. She took one look at Mom’s
nose and said, “I don’t remove these. I just fix the hole that’s left after
they’re removed. You need to go to a dermatologist to have it taken off.” She
didn’t abandon us, though. She requested that her receptionist schedule an
appointment with a group of doctors with whom she often worked, making certain
we saw someone later in the day. Mom and I treated ourselves to lunch and
headed over to the dermatologists.
Basal cell
carcinoma hits people with blue or green eyes, fair skin, and blonde or red
hair. Mom fit the description 100%. She’d also spent years sunbathing without
sunscreen. During her teen years, the common practice for tanning was to
slather baby oil all over your skin. Mom explained that she didn’t
intentionally sunbathe often because she always burned. As a matter of fact, if
she stepped onto a beach it seemed like she burned! I remember her nose often
being pink from sun exposure when she came in after hanging the clothes.
Anyway, the dermatologist
sliced off the growth for a biopsy, telling us we’d have results in about a
week. He was pretty certain he did not
get all of the cancer cells, warning that Mom would need another procedure
called Mohs surgery. Sure enough, we received notification within a week to
schedule another appointment.
A different
dermatologist with the group specialized in this procedure. His laidback
attitude relaxed both of us, and he insisted that I could sit and watch him
work. Layer by layer, he went deeper into the nostril until the cells came out
cancer free. It left a pretty large whole in Mom’s nose, but he simply “stole”
some skin from her temple and quickly fashioned a patch. A few stitches later,
and she looked almost as good as new.
The main
instructions for her recovery proved simple. Keep a bandage on the spot for
three or four days, clean the area with hydrogen peroxide every day and slather
Vaseline on the wound to prevent scarring. Of course, it worked beautifully.
Since that first
Basal cell carcinoma removal, we’ve had to go back on two other occasions to
have growths removed from Mom’s nose. Her hands and arms get zapped with
cryotherapy, freezing off suspicious areas. The other day, the doctor removed
another spot on Mom’s nose (the opposite nostril), handed me the Band-Aids and
reminded me to get out the hydrogen peroxide and Vaseline. We know the drill.
Once I got home,
I started thinking of how quickly my mother will heal with the simple “clean
and slather” combination. Then I started wondering if it would help Bridget’s
hot spots. They still plague her after weeks of cone wearing. I’ve tried
Benedryl spray and ointment, Neosporin, too. I went to Polly’s Pet Shop and
purchased ointments guaranteed to help, but her spots still linger. So on
Thursday I started cleaning her skin irritations with hydrogen peroxide and protecting them with a thick layer of
Vaseline. Within twenty-four hours, they looked better!
Again, it turns
out that sometimes the simplest proves to be the best. Two household items we always
keep in our medicine cabinet, applied daily, will heal both man and beast.
Copyright 2012 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
Well written and informative
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