I noticed a red scratch on the ledge of my inner left eyelid about 5 months ago. It didn't hurt, and I didn't remember scratching it. I would check it periodically to see if it was still there. I wasn't really worried, because who has ever heard of anything going wrong with your eyelid?!
In late April I woke up in the middle of the night and started thinking about my eyelid. I thought that I should figure out what was going on. So I googled eyelid cancer and couldn't find anything. I checked a few other keywords and again found nothing. I went back to bed feeling okay.
The next morning I got worried again and after searching for about 2 hours I found a picture that looked similar to my eyelid. The picture was of a basal cell carcinoma. I know basal cells almost never metastasize but they spread and can majorly destroy the skin. I waited until the dermatologist office opened and called. They had an appointment in two weeks but I started crying and they saw me 2 hours later :-)
My dermatologist looked and had me make an appointment with an eyelid specialist. Who even knew there were eyelid specialists?
I saw the specialist and she made an appointment for surgery two weeks later after school was out. She had me try an antibiotic steroid cream for a week, but that did nothing, so on to the surgery.
Last night, Nana took Andrew and Anslee to spend the night and to go see Up today.
Keith and my mom took me to the hospital today at 6:30 am. My surgery was 9:00 and lasted almost an hour. The doctor cut a pie shaped wedge out of my lower eyelid. It stings and I can feel the stitches rubbing my lower eyeball (YUCK!). My throat hurts from the breathing tube, but other than those things, I am fine!
I go back to the doctor in a week to have the stitches removed and to find out if they got it all.
If they didn't get it all, we are talking major reconstruction with my eye sewn shut for 6 WEEKS! Don't worry I'd post pictures of that too :-) If you have an extra prayer, please pray that all of it has been removed.
The reason I wrote all this and am putting these pictures online is because I had such a hard time finding any information at all about this. I hope this helps someone else...
The moral of this story: PLEASE wear sunglasses! The lower left eyelid is the most common place for eyelid skin cancer due to the glare while driving a car. The specialist said she used to only see this cancer in 70 or 80 year olds, but now she is getting a case a week in 30 and 40 year olds. Scary, huh?
I didn't get a before picture of my eyelid, but it looked similar to the second picture here . Mine didn't really come all the way to the outer eyelid yet. Everyone who looked at my eye had such a hard time seeing it, they were suprised I found it. Luckily I found it early.
If you have any concerns about your eyelid check out this site or this one.
3 comments:
Honey, I feel sure they got it all! Iknow you think this looks terrible, but it's not as bad as you think. It looks like it won't leave much of a scar either, thank goodness. You are always in my prayers. I love you! M
I have had several surgeries for skin cancer, as have both my parents. I hate the aftercare more than anything. I will agree with your mom that it doesn't look as horrific as you think it does, but it's still a pain and scary. Scott has such severe sun damage to his eyes that they thought he had eye cancer. I'm sorry you are going through this. I'm glad you were vigilant!
How scary for you! You always handle tough times beautifully--and with your sense of humor! Please let us know when you find out if they got it all. We'll be saying prayers for you...
Post a Comment