Cancer-Free (for the moment!)
I’d thought I’d share my journey with squamous cell carcinoma in situ. I’m a 45 year-old cis female, typical 80s/90s kid- no sunscreen, multiple second degree sunburns, tanning beds ugh all the worst things!
I put off visiting a derm for a few years- I had deluded myself into believing the mile in my back that had started to get gross-looking was just a seborrheic keratosis. Finally, it got so large and ugly that I know it was time to listen to my husband and go get it checked out. Derm took a scraping, I went on to vacation, and…got a call while we were sitting by the pool. Sure enough, it was squamous cell carcinoma in situ. Certainly not the most frightening cancer one can have, given its location on my back, but I mean, cancer is cancer. There is no such thing as a “good” cancer to have. It was scary, and I immediately went into research mode.
Doctor prescribed Effudex chemotherapy cream applied twice a day for SIX WEEKS. Thank the stars I have a husband who helped me out and reminded me to apply the cream twice a day,
e v e r y d a y. Felt like an eternity. Also frightening and always on my mind were my cats. This cream is extremely toxic to the dogs and cats, and I was in fear of them brushing against me by accident.
When they tell you applying the cream feels like sunburn…yeah no. Not for me at least. At first, it was drying out my cancer cells. Uncomfortably tight and itchy. Then came the slow oozing and shedding of the nasty lumpiness. Like a skinned knee that gets all gnarly and shiny. Leaving behind a raw, bloody and exposed place where the cancer cells once were. The last day I applied the cream (managed to make it the full six weeks!!), it felt like a poker of fire on my back, occasionally oozing liquid and the pain would be screaming if it touched or brushed against anything.
Honestly, the worst of the pain were the two weeks post-application of cream. Like a poker placed on my skin. The scab was gnarly as hell, and hard to not want to pick off. Eventually, it began to fall off itself, until I was left with fresh, bright-pink scarred but cancer-free skin cells where once a nasty clump of cancer once was. The darker cells are normal cells that were exposed to the cream and had an inflammatory response. That should fade with time.
Doctor was impressed at the reaction my SCC had to the chemo cream. He did a full body check, and found one suspicious mole on my leg, but biopsy found it was non-cancerous… so as of today, I am cancer free, BABY! Of course, it means every year a full body skin check and careful application of sunscreen and full coverage sun protection.
What a journey this was. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.