Update! No skin cancer! My bump was actually a sebaceous hyperplasia. All is well, stitches are out and the healing is on.

Way back when, maybe in the late 70's, it was all the rage to bake in the sun and get as dark as humanly possible. There were no warnings about using SPF-95 and staying out of the sun. And you sure didn't hear many people talking about skin cancer.

Fast forward to today and see what that sun may have given you after all of these years. As long as I can remember, like the late 70's, I've always had this "growth" on my forehead. I went years just ignoring it and never thought that much about it. As I got older I grew tired of looking at it and assumed it might be some kind of super-human wart. So, I began to use all sorts of home treatments to remove it.

Trying to remove this thing went on for years. A few times I thought I had it burned or frozen off until it was almost gone only to have it return once more. It never really spread or hurt so I wasn't worried about it. Late last year a doctor friend of mine walks up to me in the mall and asked what the thing on my head was. I explained I wasn't sure and he nonchalantly told me it was basal cell carcinoma and I had skin cancer. Wow!

After the initial shock he informed me it was not really dangerous but should be removed. Well, last night I had him remove it and just for grins told everyone I was going to have him cut out a lightning bolt design to look like Harry Potter's. See photo above.

The moral of the story is watch your kids and their exposure to the sun. We didn't know as much about skin cancer in the 70's and all loved to get that dark, rich tan. Many of us will be paying for that exposure as we get older. Get yourself checked out if you suspect a growth anywhere.

(P.S. The photo above may have been tampered with in PhotoShop. My doctor was not to keen on giving me the lightning bolt design.)

Labels: 70's, Curtis Tucker, Getting Old