It had been eighteen months since my last full-body dermatological scan. That’s six months later than it should have been.
I’ve had skin cancer twice in the last ten years. One was squamous cell and one was basal cell carcinoma. Found early they are little more than a nuisance. Ignore them and they can disfigure or, in very rare cases, kill you. Luckily I have not had melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer) but am at high risk for it. Both of my skin cancers have been easily taken care of with some very minor surgery done right in the doctor’s office.
So, today I had my body scan. One suspicious mole and five skin tags (not dangerous, just nuisance) were removed, plus several red, scaly (and undetected by me) pre-cancerous spots were frozen, including one right on my forehead.
I think the mole is probably a cancer. It was on my back, another place that’s hard to see. If it is then that will mean another visit while they remove the surrounding tissue to prevent any spreading. I’m not very anxious about it. The doctor didn’t seem overly concerned.
Being skin healthy pays. After the appointment I went to my insurance office and put in a claim on a wonderful policy that I have that pays me $112 for outpatient surgery. Removal of even one skin tag is considered surgery. So while I paid a $25 copayment to the doctor, I’ll get $112 from my policy. So I got paid $87 to go to the dermatologist. I’m going to write a post about that policy soon.
So, my friends, please go to your regular dermatologist for a full body scan, or take advantage of the free scans being offered.
And please, wear sunscreen.
Next time I won’t procrastinate. From now on June is Skin Health Month on the BeThisWay household. Why not in your household, too?
Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You? 
June 3, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Good work, going in for a regular check-up! That is so important.
Around here dermatologists are so busy cranking money on cosmetic procedures, they no longer seem to be very interested in regular scans. Since my wonderful dermatologist retired, I haven’t had any luck finding a dermatologist who would do this.
June 4, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I look forward to reading about the policy. I just paid over $700 for an outpatient surgery. Ouch.
June 4, 2008 at 8:29 pm
good for you – I just had my first full body scan 2 weeks ago – I had an annoying mole on my chest that constantly was flaking…the dermatologist said it was a keratosis that was inflamed and froze it off to get rid of it. Other than that, everything was just fine. I’m 32 and had a college friend my same age who died of cancer back in May – he had a mole he let go too long and it turned out to be melanoma. I think it was already stage 4 before they caught it…he left a beautiful wife and 2 adorable boys. Hearing his story was all I needed to get my hiney in gear and get my scan scheduled. I’ll now be doing regular scans as well! Best wishes!
June 8, 2008 at 1:18 pm
[…] love this policy. And them’s some strong feelings about an insurance policy. I promised you all I would tell you about it, so here it […]
July 8, 2009 at 10:00 pm
[…] 1. Being fair-skinned, I got sunburned. A lot. And severely. Much to my family’s disbelief, I could and did get sunburned on cloudy days. Being the late 60’s and early seventies we didn’t know what we do now about the risks of sun exposure and the concept of sunscreen. As a result I have had a couple of lovely souvenirs of my childhood – two cute little skin cancers. […]