learned my lesson

LEARNED MY LESSON

one day as i was looking in the mirror i noticed a small pinprick drop of blood on my nose
i wiped it off and went on about my business
then
a few days later there it was again
like someone had painlessly pricked my nose with a fine needle

i knew since i had removed skin cancers like basal cell and squamous cell off peoples faces and their bodies over my career
i knew what that was

i thought
you have a basal cell on your nose

so
i googled mohs surgery for basal cell of the nose
hit enter
clicked on images
oh my i thought
that looks awful

off to the derm for a biopsy
then to a mohs surgeon to have it removed
the basal cell not my nose
it just felt like she had removed my nose

now
2 years later you really cant tell she cut a big ole hole in my nose and moved flaps of skin around so there would be hardly any scar

i thought to my self during recovery
i never ever want to do that again

so
i became religious about using sunscreen and wearing a hat and sometimes wearing long sleeves even in the hot summer

now here in santa barbara its dangerous since the weather is usually nice
like today
it will start out with some morning fog then as the day goes on there will be bright sun with no clouds
it seems like nothing slows down those sun rays

theres been many a day ive gone to the garden hatless and sunscreenless since it was so overcast
then
the next thing i know by lunchtime my face is red like i had a hot flash

ive learned to be more aggressive with the sunscreen and hats no matter the weather

 ive settled on the sunscreen in the above two pictures and have noticed that it works well and doesnt seem to sweat off much as the day goes on

after reading the below article i think i will need to change mine

recently i saw this article on sunscreen damaging things
the coral reefs
our hormones
us

in hawaii the reefs are dying they think from the sunscreens with
oxybenzone
octinoxate
in them

i do worry what affect these have on babies and young kids since they are rapidly growing
and they get a lot of sunscreen rubbed on them everyday

this article recommends avobenzone which is better
even better is
zinc oxide and titanium dioxide

these last two make the uv light bounce off thus blocking the uv effects
zinc oxide is in desitin amd other diaper rash ointments and is used as a thick paste on folks noses who surf and life guard

the other stuff above absorbs the sun rays

so blocking is better than absorbing

sprays dont work as well as the kind you rub on

use spf 40-50

this article has references to sites like consumer reports or an app that give recommended products to use
it also lists the recommended ones for kids

use one that doesnt kill the coral reefs and doesnt change your kids hormones

ive learned my lesson to use sunscreens regularly and floppy hats
now
i just need to use the one that doesnt harm me or the environment

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-be screened

DEAR MS B-BE SCREENED


we pay the price
ms b
for past sins

no its not bad stuff
just
when we were little long time ago
we were kicked outside
go outside and play
we were told
so
out we went

now we when the weather was warm
went outside with just a pair of shorts on
sometimes even barefooted
we were

during the summer
we would get
real real real dark
like we were from south of the border

what that means
was that there was probably a lot of sunburning
going on

i can remember my nose peeling a lot
it would be a pink island inside a dark face

now fast forward well a lot of years
those hours and hours
of
exposing my skin to all that radiation
well
ms b
it finally caught up to me

right there on that pink island
my nose
im sure it even though i wear a hat a lot when
i am and was outside
it still peaked out of the shadows

so gradually over the years
the dna inside those skin cells on my nose
got changed
so
that they began to grow irregularly
so
that it began to grow downwards from the surface
even
making a pinpoint area when the skin
would just bleed

so

aafp.org
a spot that bleeds frequently
a spot that comes and goes
a spot that changes and grows darker
or

healthline.com
a spot that develops an ulcer in it
or


a mole that gets darker and grows and changes how it looks
its
a warning to have it checked

so
thinking ok i am now paying for my past uv overexposure

so
i am now destined to have mohs surgery on
a basal cell on my nose
that pink island that im sure looked cute when i was little
well
we didnt know better back then

so mohs it is
shave
slides
more shaves
more slides
until the bad cells are all gone
then
the hole thats left
well
that has to be filled in some way

flaps and stitches
thats the final event for that day

so
ms b
i want you to be sunscreened as much as possible
with a pretty little hat on
so that nose will not peak out under its shadow

yes
wish i had known better back then

the organicgreen doctor