
Because I had been operated
for a Squamous Cell cancerous lesion on my left ear. Twice.
The operation was
self-directed because I had virtually stopped going to Dermatologists because
they rarely operated and generally just used Cryosurgery to take off dozens of
spots on my balding dome. But two
lesions: one on my ear and one on my chest, had recurring scabs that peeled
away at four to six month intervals.
So I asked my Primary Care
Physician for an opinion and he suggested a referral for evaluation. The ear was a candidate for Mohs surgery: a
procedure that allows evaluation of borders immediately. One corrective procedure and a follow-up
cleanup procedure and I was pronounced cancer free. The chest was treated with his freeze-gun.



Mary, my wife is currently
healing from 40 sites, treated by her dermatologist by Cryosurgery. Perhaps it is my bias as a trained dentist,
but I find it unusual that so many lesions be so treated without a biopsy of at
least one.
My suspicious nature wonders
if this is yet another treatment decision driven by the fact that we pay for services
rather than for care.
One wonders also why there
are so many restrictions about donating blood?
Some examples? Malaria, five
years (Mary and Tim, having contacted malaria on a Philippine Naval Base in 1983
have yet to donate); Travel to Europe during the time of mad-cow disease,
forever; sex with a single male partner if you are also male, forever; and my
squamous cell operation one year.
When I went in for my
Prostate surgery I was encouraged to bank my own blood. I think if asked I would have as soon tried
some blood from a restricted donor.
Again, my skeptical self wonders if the logic is driven by liability
risk rather than medical.
As I write this my 80
year-old brother in law is being treated for a radiation cystitis. His problem?
In his home town, Freeport, there is not a medical facility or physician
who has treated his condition. I have another
relative and friends who are in serious stages of dementia with limited
resources to treat the condition. All
this at a time when we are preparing to expand healthcare to millions of
people without access to the limited resources we have.
Which brings me to
considering the subject of my next post.
With student loan rates scheduled to double in interest in two days, I
think I’ll weigh in on the subject of financing post-high school education.
You might find my comments
interesting.