We'll go ahead and use this photo (for its calligraphie) to illustrate today's story, which might as well be titled "Les Bêtises de La Peau" or "Skin Stupidity". Read on… and cover up with sun screen!
la peau (poh)
: skin
Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc Download MP3 or Wav
Protégez votre peau du soleil. Mettez un écran solaire.
Protect your skin. Apply sun screen.
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
Skin Sins
It looked like a blemish… only it didn't go away. On studying the spot on my forehead, I wondered whether it was a scar–one I had somehow overlooked? Only, I couldn't remember running head first into anything recently…. Besides, I would have remembered the bleeding, the bandaging, and the scabbing (not to mention the embarrassment).
After prodding and poking at the bump, to no avail (I guessed it wasn't acne…), I decided it must be an age spot–a pearly one at that. At the age of 43, I seem to be manufacturing them! There is one above my right eyebrow… and another is coming into view over my left sourcil. Only those spots are the color of age-spots: brown. Did age spots come in other colors and thicknesses?
When the flesh-tone spot in the center of my forehead began to grow (it was growing, wasn't it?) I began to have doubts and, one weekend last month, I threw all of my worry energies together in time to make an appointment chez le dermatologue.
Only problem was: in August, in the South of France, all dermatologists are on the sunny beaches of Costa Brava (just kidding–in truth, I do not know where skin doctors vacation in summertime, but they do vacation, and, therefore, it was difficult finding someone to diagnose the worrisome growth).
I would have to wait three weeks to see a skin specialist in Orange. On my way to his office, I kept forgetting things: where I put my wallet, especially. I managed to misplace it three times that week, whereas I'd never before lost my porte-monnaie. If I am absent-minded by nature, this head-in-the-clouds tendance became epidemic the week of my appointment.
The dermatologist's office is located in an historical hôtel particulier. Stepping past the sky-high iron gate, I peered around the cobbled courtyard. It looked bleak (no swayback benches, no giant pots with trailing flowers), but then it occurred to me: what busy dermatologue had time to sit or to water plants? I decided this was a good sign and stepped over the threshold.
Inside, the only other patient in the sterile waiting room sat reading Voici (France's version of People Magazine). The woman had a big bandage on her ankle. I wondered what skin-related malady had befallen her?
After checking in, I waited beside the woman with the ankle bandage, and as I read the cover of her magazine, I overheard voices in the next room:
"Je vous ai fait un rendez-vous chez le chirurgien plasticien. I've made an appointment for you at the plastic surgeon's…" the secretary was saying to the young woman who had just seen the doctor.
When it was my turn to be examined, the diagnoses came almost as soon as I arrived at the examination table. No magnifying glass was needed, no special flashlight. The only instrument the doctor used was a great blue magic marker.
Doc used the thick blueberry-colored marker to draw a circle around the mysterious growth, highlighting the area that would need to be excised. Next, he handed me a mirror.
I stared at the spot on my forehead, which appeared even bigger than before. "C'est un carcinome baso-cellulaire." "It's basal cell carcinoma," the doctor explained.
Still starring into the hand mirror, I saw my glassy eyes flanked by mascarad wings, which blinked.
The doctor assured me: "It is the most common type of skin cancer: nonmelanoma. I diagnose at least one case per week. A lot of farmers around here get it. (I thought of my husband, Chief Grape, who had already had an 8-inch chunk of flesh taken out of his back, some 15-years-ago. He would need to be reexamined!)
If left untreated, the doctor explained, the cells would keep on growing. But I would probably die of old age, he assured me, before I would die of this type of skin cancer. "That said, basal cell carcinoma is malignant and can spread to the bone, in which case it is best to remove the growth."
The doctor washed off the blue mark from my forehead and scribbled a note to a colleague, a visceral and digestive surgeon, just up the street at the Clinique de Provence.
I wondered whether I shouldn't travel farther, to have some sort of specialist remove the facial growth?But when I voiced my concern, the doctor chuckled: "No need to send you to China to have some cells removed!"
I laughed, too. True, it was no use complicating the matter. First things first, get the growth removed! And no time to dally, for a second growth appeared last month, piggy-backing the first.
***
Post note: I was uneasy about the idea of a visceral-digestive surgeon cutting and sewing my forehead! Wouldn't a plastic surgeon be a better choice? For days I debated the doctor's recommendation. And then I said a prayer and asked for peace of mind about my decision… and that is when the answer came to me, clear as day: "visceral" means "organ" — and isn't skin the biggest organ we have? Therefore an organ and digestive doctor would seem to be the right match! I'll see the doctor this Tuesday, which is also la rentrée, or back-to-school for our kids.
Le Coin Commentaires
Statistics show that 3 out of 10 light-skinned persons may develop basal cell carcinoma in their lifetime. It is the most common form of skin cancer. Share your "sun sins"–experiences, stories, and knowledge– here, in the comments box–and help spread awareness of this preventable disease.
Update: Read about my visit to the surgeon's… where I learn that a gut doctor has been recommended to remove the facial growths… Click here.
A picture of the spot:
You can see the spot on my forehead in a picture I posted last month. Click on the following link and look for the first picture (with the pink scarf) in this story column (then click on the picture to enlarge it). The pea-size, flesh-tone spot is in the center of my forehead, one or so inches below my hairline: http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/motdujour/2011/08/collier.html
French Vocabulary
le sourcil = eyebrow
la tendance = tendency
le porte-monnaie = wallet
un hôtel particulier = private mansion
The classic Bescherelle, the complete guide to French verb conjugation. Read the five-star reviews, and order, here.
This Frenchman has the right idea: wear a hat! Photo of the trompe-l'oeil taken in 2009, in Pourrières.
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I am glad that you prayed about it. That’s the most important thing you did. My husband and I are praying for you, too.
Years ago, I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from the tip of my nos. It took several hours because the doctor had to keep checking to see if he was getting it all. Then I wore a big bandage on nose for couple of weeks,including to a big family reunion. It never returned but I wear SPF 50 lotion on my face every day. rain or shine, under my makeup. The damage had been done when I was a teenager and spent a lot of time at the beacb with my fair skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. Now I stay out of the sun but because it’s so hot and humid here.
Kristin–We all do so appreciate your sharing your basal cell growth, your fears and your message to “get ourselves checked”. You are a strong and resilient woman based on your voice and writings and are right to deal with this immediately. You have my prayers for little or no pain and sound results on Tuesday. Peace be with you….Robyn in New Mexico
I am glad you went in. I had a spot on my chest, a few inches below my colar bone. I thought it was a pimple as well. The gal that does my facials told me to go get it checked out. It ended up being sqamous cells. After that one, the next was on my back, which I could not see. The doctor saw it after he removed the stiches from the one on my chest. Now my son tells everyone that I was shot, the entry wound on the front, and exit wound straight back on my back. That one ended up being squamous cells as well. I grew up not far from you, Kristin, and still live in the sunny state of Arizona. We all cover ourselves in sun screen every morning and get check ups every 6 months. Everyone needs to be aware and watch for ‘spots’ that don’t look normal. GO AND GET THE SPOTS CHECKED OUT.
Just another word of encouragement from one who has been there, too. Ask about the MOHS. For me, too many LA sunburns as a child on my fair skin before anyone had sunscreen. My Dad used to soak up the sun and then began to come home with little spots scraped off his face; now I am scraped, but it heals and I keep checking. You have all of us on your side, bon courage.
Oh I am so glad you had someone look at it and didn’t put it off. I wish you all the best on your next appointment! Your mom is right…take Jean-Marc with you. Huge hugs!
Kristin, so glad you didn’t wait. Although I don’t have experience with skin cancer, I too was told I had cancer this year (breast), and it was pretty scary at first. Living in a small town, many of my friends urged me to get treatment in a big city. The very best thing is early detection (Hourra!)and treatment as soon as possible. Doing my homework and even getting a second opinion showed me that the same therapy would have been recommended no matter where I lived. Know that you are in a good place. And know that you have still another reader friend praying for you, this one in southeastern Georgia. Courage, mon amie!
Ive had had 4 basal carcinoma and 1 squamous all in my face. My mother had melanoma and did not die from cancer . She had her leg amputated but lived until she was 86 years old.
It is very important that you get an effective skin block. I like Vichy that contains mexoryl . If you buy an american brand it must have zinc oxide and another ingredient that I don’t remenber right now.
The mohs method is the best.
Don’t worry you will be allright . God bless you
Someone from my Herb Society got rid of her spot with a very powerful herb known as Petty Spurge or Radium Weed. …
Kristin, so glad you investigated this!! Holding good thoughts for you and successful removal of this little problem spot!! Blessings!
Carole
Kirsten,
I love it that you write about both the lovely and the scary or difficult in life. I had a basal cell on the small of my back in my forties–an area never much exposed to the sun. Because I have Irish skin and come from California, and because my father died of melanoma, I get checked every year. It’s important because what I have suspected were cancerous spots were nothing, while two other innocent-looking marks were biopsied(and benign) over the years.
Today is the day of your appointment with the plastic surgeon. Hope everything turn out to be all right. Hopefully I didn’t need plastic surgery and my nose scar is hidden with foundation.
I’m praying for you.
I asked a dermatoligist and the ingredients of an effective american made sun block are zinc oxide and titanium oxide.
Good luck and God bless you.
Kristin, my thoughts are with you. I too have had basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose and have another that needs to be removed two weeks from now. Of course as a woman, we are all so sensitive about doing anything that could damage our visage however what are the options? I grew up in California with English skin, red hair, and green eyes. My Mom and Dad tried to diligently keep us covered up but it was nearly impossible, especially since the sunscreens were so ineffective back then. Of course now I’m diligent about it and preach to my neice and step-daughters to keep covered up or wear sunscreen everywhere, especially backs of hands, neck, face and chest. If only I could start all over again. Good luck on your recovery and I am sure the scar will fade over time and will become a distant memory.
A small mole should never be ignored because that mole can be a malignant spot which can cause skin cancer. It’s a good thing your skin doctor caught sight of that immediately because it can easily be removed through surgery. I’m counting on your recovery, Mademoiselle. =)
Il faut toujours porter un chapeau….