#The fleshy fun bridge skin

The doctor told her that managing this cancer could involve multiple procedures and an extended recovery period.

He told Jen that very few centers were equipped to handle her situation, and most were far away. Jen consulted one doctor who said that another Mohs surgery would not be sufficient to address the new large and complex cancer. “I'd dealt with the BCCs so many times before, and it's never comfortable or fun, but it's manageable,' Jen says. By the time the doctors caught it, they found that the entire right half of her nose was involved, with the cancer extending into the scar tissue from the previous surgery and wrapping around the nasal bones. But in Jen's case, the cancer had been growing, undetected, for a long time. I’m thinking that somehow there was one cell left behind, which stayed in my nose and grew for eight years.'īasal cell carcinomas are still treatable if they come back. Jen says, “The previous doctors removed the BCC and reconstructed my nose pretty substantially. Every time I went, he encouraged me and was honest, but positive. He was so down-to-earth and helped me understand everything that was happening to me. Surgical removal is an effective treatment.īut when a BCC grows undetected, it can become more serious. Also, BCCs occur on the skin, usually where they can be readily seen. It’s a slow-growing cancer that seldom spreads. If there’s something good to say about BCC, it’s that most cases are manageable. As most people know, it’s associated with frequent or prolonged sun exposure.

#The fleshy fun bridge skin

It's common: According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, over 4 million cases of BCC are diagnosed each year in the U.S. Basal Cell Carcinoma: The Most Common Skin Cancerīasal cell carcinoma, or BCC, is a form of skin cancer that arises from basal cells deep in the lining of the skin’s top layer, the epidermis. If even one cancer cell is left behind, the lesion can come back. Mohs surgery is an effective way to remove all of the cancer while sparing as much healthy tissue as possible. Then the opening is repaired with reconstructive plastic surgery. In this procedure, a specially trained dermatologist removes thin layers of the cancerous growth one by one and a pathologist examines each layer under a microscope until there are no more visible cancer cells. So when she got a lesion on her nose, she did the right thing: She consulted a doctor who recommended removal of the BCC with Mohs surgery. “I started getting BCCs when I was 29,” she says, explaining that her tendency to get frequent skin cancers stems from a genetic condition: her skin doesn’t repair itself from sun damage. Jen was well acquainted with basal cell carcinomas (also called BCCs), since she’d had several of the growths. The goal was to remove Jen’s cancer and reconstruct her nose. Desai, M.D., a facial plastic surgeon who specializes in advanced reconstruction of the head and neck. She consulted Johns Hopkins head and neck surgeons, including Shaun C.Incomplete removal of that growth allowed the cancer to grow inside of Jen’s nose, undetected, for eight years.

Jen had experienced multiple basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), including one on her nose that was treated with surgery.