Two weeks ago, I visited the dermatologist. I asked about the splotches that have been appearing on my face. He told me they were actinic keratoses, precancerous growths caused by years of sun damage. Very common, especially in fair-skinned people. He said there was a 20% chance they could become malignant. He prescribed a two-week, twice-daily course of a topical cream called Fluorouracil USP 5%. It's a powerful drug, which is actually used for chemotherapy in another form -- very toxic. The drug targets fast-growing cells. He said it would make my face red and it would feel like a bad sunburn.
The first few days, I hardly noticed any effects. Gradually my face got redder and I began to feel the burn, but it was still quite tolerable. Rash-like redness began to spread. Shaving hurt. The stinging intensified, and I started looking pretty gruesome. I gave up on shaving. Sleeping was difficult. The last couple of days were excruciating. It hurts to smile or open my mouth to eat. I frighten children. When I'm in public, people avert their eyes. I need a burka. As of today, I'm done with the treatment, so I had Leela take these photos. I understand that I should start healing up pretty swiftly now.
Here's an extreme close-up of my cheek:
Notice the strange patterns created by the lesions. Also note the layer of subcutaneous cells screaming in agony. Oops! Oh, that's a picture of the carpet we bought in Turkey -- must have mixed up the photos. Hard to tell the difference.
Moral of story: Avoid the sun and stay away from dermatologists!
2 comments:
Hope your Turkish rug, er, face, looks better by now, Bruce. Any new shots? Or did it turn out to be permanent?
He looks BEA-U-TI-FUL now! And he is smiling again. The said thing about the treatment was that it hurt so much to move his face, that he couldn't smile.
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