Postscript -- March 26, 2017

I developed basal cell carcinoma above my right eyebrow in the Fall of 2015 and had to have some skin surgically removed. It began as a scab that itched and would not heal for several months. (YES this is the same spot that scabbed and took a long time to heal, see previous entry.) My surgeon said he thought he would be removing a piece of skin the size of a pencil eraser, but it turned out to be the size of a dime. This happened during my last semester of my Master's Degree program...like I needed more stress! 

My stitches after surgery to remove a spot of basal cell carcinoma.

Here's a photo with me after surgery, October 2015. Unfortunately the stitches were removed well before Halloween...otherwise, what a great costume! Overall I am really happy with the results, especially considering the size of the piece of skin they had to remove. When I was getting my stitches removed, the guy taking them out actually started giving me the third degree about wearing sunscreen. Really? Dude, I've been wearing sunscreen RELIGIOUSLY since I was 12 years old!  I will confess though, that right around the time I developed the scab that would not heal, I was going through a brief smoking phase. I know, a Health Educator who smokes. Wow. Let's just say it was an extremely stressful time in my life wrapping up my Master's Degree, and I fell into an old coping habit, and I quit within a month of starting, and I don't smoke now. I did research on smoking and skin cancer and...big surprise...there is a correlation. I can't say for sure this was a direct cause and effect relationship for me, but I know I certainly wasn't helping my situation.

My forehead today, with makeup.  You can see a little scarring perpendicular to my eyebrow.

So does an Efudex treatment prevent future complications? Clearly, in my case, it did not. I asked my dermatologist about this, and she said if I had continued my Efudex application for several more weeks, it probably would have prevented that formation of basal cell carcinoma. But, at the time, I had no idea that a stubborn scab that took much longer to heal than the rest of my face indicated a potential basal cell carcinoma spot. And, as I mentioned before, I did not help my skin by starting up smoking.

Did Efudex get rid of a lot of trouble spots and improve the appearance of my skin? Absolutely. It did leave some scarring on my chin, which you can't see here because it is subtle, but in just the right light I can see them.

Best of luck to you on your healing journey!

Day 22 -- Woohoo I can wear makeup!!

Yay...makeup!

 My face is still peeling, and there are spots that are still rough and need to shed, but overall I feel like I'm done. No raw skin!

I love makeup and although I don't wear it all the time, when you can't wear it, it suddenly becomes even more desirable. So today I spent almost two hours playing with my hair and makeup. Fun!

A very nice Christmas present -- healthier skin!

Day 21

Day 21

The last few days my face has been peeling like crazy! But the skin below is healing really well, and today I applied regular moisturizing cream without a wince.

The Band-Aid on my forehead is covering the only place that is still a scab, and I keep that covered with Aquafor as well.

Overall, I'm feeling very relieved today! My new skin is very soft, and the tiny wrinkles that were developing around my mouth are now much softer.

Day 20

Day 20 -- with Aquafor already applied

I wiped off a ton of dead skin in the shower today...whew! Getting there day by day. Slower than I would wish for, of course, but getting there!

There is a spot on my forehead just above my right eyebrow that continues to scab and bleed, which makes me think its a spot that really needed to come off. So again, I'm thankful for this treatment. 

Day 17

Day 17 -- looking good!

Today I feel like my body has almost completely recovered from having those strong chemicals in it. I feel much less anxious, and I slept really deeply last night.

My skin continues to flake, itch, and it still hurts right after I wash it until I get Aquafor on it. But it's healing nicely!

Day 16

Day 16 -- two days after I stopped applying Efudex

Today the inflammation decreased a bit. You can't really tell by the photo because I took it after my shower, but it's the first thing I noticed when I looked in the mirror this morning. Yay! I am still a bit swollen, more so on the left side of my face.

The dead skin is starting to flake off now. I was up late last night because even though I had plenty of Aquafor on,  just when I was about to nod off, I would get an itchy spot on my face that I just had to scratch.  

I have been taking 2000mg of vitamin C with each meal to help with the healing process, as well as eating berries and green smoothies. I pulled my dusty rebounder out of the garage and have been using it for 15-20 minutes daily to help support my lymphatic system, which helps with detoxing the body.

I've applied Traumeel and Aquafor after washing my face for the past two days. The Traumeel has calendula in it, which is good for burns.  I discovered that the gel form stings less than the cream form. The Aquafor is a must. It really helps with relaxing the skin, as it tightens up so much after I wash it that I can barely open my mouth to eat! I don't have any aloe around, otherwise I'd be using that, too.

Day 14...finally.

Day 14 -- and I'm so relieved.

In other Efudex blogs I've read where the person had to apply Efudex for longer than me, Day 15 was the most painful. Well I have so much compassion for those folks because Day 14 really sucks.

My face feels like one big, tight scab. I feel like if I were to smile, my cheeks would crack open. Putting Efudex on this morning was not fun...lots of stinging...and I observed myself taking my time with breakfast and a shower, putting off the inevitable task of applying Efudex for as long as possible.

But I got that part over with, so I'm on to the rest of my beautiful New Mexican Saturday, getting ever closer to the day there will be no indication on my face that I ever applied Efudex! I have one more application tonight, and that's the end of it.

Yesterday a fellow classmate reminded me how great it is that I can have this treatment as a preventive measure. And it's true! It's a short bout of discomfort that will pay off in the future.