Friday, July 22, 2011

My Lip is Healing

Three weeks ago, my dermatologist finally declared that the sore on my lip was skin cancer and it scared me pretty badly. She sprayed it with liquid nitrogen and gave me a prescription for Aldara to begin using on the 25th (next Monday) but it has healed so well that I'm going to ask her to take another look at it and see if maybe I don't need to start the Aldara treatment. It makes sense that she diagnosed skin cancer because this sore has been there for about a year and a half unable to completely heal but I'm wondering if that was because it's hard to keep the lip dry. Skin doesn't heal unless it's kept dry, does it?

I've worried about having to use that Aldara on my lip because I did use it once before on a basal cell skin cancer that I had on my chest and it hurt so much that I had to stop using it. The lips are so much more sensitive so it would probably hurt a lot more to use it there.

Aldara was first used to treat genital herpes but it was discovered to help diminish skin cancer, too. I can't even imagine putting it on your genitals! It sort of embarrassed me to purchase Aldara from the pharmacy because the druggist doesn't know that, in my case, it's for skin cancer. He probably thought I was a dirty old lady! My friend, Norma, asked me if I bought it at a drug store where I wasn't known and I actually did (at the dermatologist's building). I wonder if I did that on purpose?

Oh well, just wish me luck. I'll try to see the dermatologist on Monday and I'll be hoping she'll say I don't need the Aldara. Then I can squawk about paying $190 for something I didn't need.


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