Purgatory said...
Should be noted, that I have spent my life avoiding sun exposure. Always wear a hat, rarely go swimming, and when I do, I have both a t-shirt and hat on. Never been an out door person, was always sun sensitive even as a kid.
The VA can't aggressively treat the Double Depression, until the Neurologist finishes his battery of tests, in case there is a medical or organic reason for some of the issues. So back to the game of many tests and much waiting for results.
Almost too much to bear at one time, no wonder everyone thinks I am so depressed.
Sorry that the crap continues on for you, David. That sounds so much of an understatement and so minimal, but I don't know anything better to say. I have had several basals removed, one from right above my lip twice in the same spot (about
12 years after the 1st time ). And I go back in a couple of months to have a suspicious spot on my back rechecked, to see if it must be cut out or if it just looked bad because I had been scratching it. But, I have not yet had any so big that they could not be stitched up.
I note what you said about
your lack of sun exposure. You of course have the additional suspect of RT damage in your case, which has caused you so much trouble, so who knows? But it has always seemed strange to me that in my case, I have yet to get a basal ( or any other ) cancer on the areas of my body that get many times more sun exposure than anywhere else, like my arms. My basals have been either covered by my shirt, or in an area where I used always way more sunscreen than anywhere else on my body, like the one at the border of my lip. This seems odd to me. Don't get me wrong, I have had plenty of sun exposure on the areas under my shirt especially from my youth, but not near as much as my arms which get darkly tanned every year ( short sleeves ). OTOH, I also have not yet had any on my legs, which most years since my youth get little to no sun.
But even more perplexing, I keep reading how the rates of the deadly melanoma- which often shows up in areas with little sun exposure anyway- has increased a whole lot in recent decades, and keep occurring at younger and younger ages, in the age of sunscreen and people avoiding the sun. With so many folks trying to avoid the sun ( wide hats, more clothing, sunscreen, staying out of the sun ) you would think the frequency of all types of skin cancers would be decreasing, and that melanomas would certainly not have increased impressively. Quite odd.
Oh well, who knows. Regardless, I hate to hear that you have yet another trial and tribulation. Praying for you!