The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Jazee

I was looking to buy a pop up tent but had heard of the difficulties getting them back in the bag. The salesman said it was easy, so I said let me try it here and if I can do it I'll buy it. I couldn't and neither could he! No sale.

michaels

Jazee wrote: »

I was looking to buy a pop up tent but had heard of the difficulties getting them back in the bag. The salesman said it was easy, so I said let me try it here and if I can do it I'll buy it. I couldn't and neither could he! No sale.

It is weird isn't it - the people on youtube can do it just like that and yet you copy there every move and it completely fails. DKs managed snap the pole on one we had, you then have tiny shards of fibreglass everywhere, not easy to take to the tip as you then certainly can't fold it down without getting hundreds of small slivers of glass into your skin....

ivyleaf

Dear GDB, please try not to worry. If it does turn out to be anything important, it's been caught very early indeed

Maggie How are you doing?

zagubov

GDB2222 wrote: »

DW spotted a tiny blemish on her skin, which she thinks has been there a week. About 3mm across. She needed to see the GP about something else, so showed it to her. The doctor did NOT say that it's nothing, as I expected, but duly measured and logged it, and DW has to return in a fortnight to see if it's grown. I'm hoping it's just an overly zealous GP.

I regard DW as indestructible, so it's alll rather upsetting as a reminder of our mortality.

GDB, I just had an something similar checked and it was nought to worry about. The dermatologist did say that I did the right thing by getting it seen, and I was thinking of Viva's advice when I was wondering if I was being a hypochondriac, so I did get it checked.

PasturesNew

You don't realise how fast some things go until you're actually getting round to it....

I'd seen a bit of furniture I wanted.... but I had to come home and investigate it online and see other variations/prices, as I wanted "something like that" but at "the keenest price". I'd seen Ikea's version, which was MUCH pricier, so just wanted "something a bit like that, to fill a hole and perform a function" within the room .... and there it was.

So, I'd got it on my list to get. £29.99 - online showing at £24.99... and I looked... and it was on my list .... and I didn't get round to getting it. Then yesterday I checked and it was gone! Oh noes.... so I drove to the shop thinking "might have one last one in the shop...."

Walked round that shop four times, looking for it.... no sign. Then, suddenly, I spotted it ... not where I'd expected it/been looking for it. Price was now £29.99 but I was having it. Struggled to pick it up (needed a trolley really), I'd guess it was 20Kg but I had super-human strength as I carried it to the till because I was there, I wanted it, it was coming home with me..... and through the till, into the car. It's still in the boot though

Off "booting" in a bit, I need a couple of bits and bobs if I can spot them. Just a tablecloth .... and keep an eye out for curtains. Both unlikely to find as they both are items that need to be specific sizes AND "not weird".

Had another look at curtains in Dunelm yesterday - it would appear that my "colour preferences" are not a la mode .... all the curtains are really dark and grungy... not bright/light at all. Maybe that's the "cheap seats" end of the pricing market for you. Did see some LOVELY ones at £250 a pair .... but my brain's saying "budget is about £35-40 for spectacular ones ... and £20-25 for OK/passable/will do ones". 90"x90" is a huge size to try to find cheap though... I wonder what those with bifold doors do.....

vivatifosi

GDB2222 wrote: »

DW spotted a tiny blemish on her skin, which she thinks has been there a week. About 3mm across. She needed to see the GP about something else, so showed it to her. The doctor did NOT say that it's nothing, as I expected, but duly measured and logged it, and DW has to return in a fortnight to see if it's grown. I'm hoping it's just an overly zealous GP.

I regard DW as indestructible, so it's alll rather upsetting as a reminder of our mortality.

GDB, I hope your wife is not worrying unduly, I will try to put your mind at rest a bit.

Most people will have a few moles and blemishes that we are born with. However we shouldn't really get to 40 and be developing new moles, so it is good to check them out.

3mm is very small. Also, from what you say this is very new. Has the skin at the blemish site been itchy at all? There wasn't room in my Sig for that, but sometimes that could also be a factor. Mine was so itchy early on I could have scratched it till my skin ripped. It was a different kind of itch iykwim.

Overall though, 3mm is v small. You were right to go early and they were right to check it. The vast majority of even the worst type of skin cancer, melanoma, are survived. The reason they are not is that either are an unusual type, some of which are very aggressive, or more likely, not recognised or ignored for what they are.

6mm is a critical point, especially in an evolving mole, so half the size of that is good. The reason is that if it gets bigger, it doesn't just penetrate the epidermis, but also the dermis, and that's where things start to get dangerous.

Say DW is suspected of having melanoma, which as I say is absolutely worst case scenario, they will cut it out. There are different ways of having this done. I've had three of them, so will describe in more detail.

For a small mole, she would most likely have a punch biopsy. This is like a very sharp and tiny cook it cutter, which takes out a very small portion of skin. Mine needed just one stitch, and now you would need to look really hard to see the scar. This is so quick, it is like having an ear pierced. As simple as that.

The second type is for a larger melanoma. This is called a narrow local incision and involves making an elliptical shape in the skin and removing that. When people have a normal op, afterwards the same piece of skin is sewn to its previously adjacent piece of skin
However with the NLE, this skin is cut out, so the elliptical profile allows this to be sewn together neatly. The word narrow refers to the amount of margin taken around the mole. This is kept as small as possible to reduce the scarring. The sample (in all instances) is then sent for a biopsy. If it comes back indicative of melanoma, a second process, called a wide local incision, May be carried out. That's to make sure that they have got all of the cells.

The third type of procedure is called a scrape, and just takes off the top level of skin. Doctors are not supposed to use this for melanoma as it can leave lower levels of the cancer behind in the remaining surface. Nevertheless it is used for other forms of skin cancer. All of these processes can be done under local anaesthetic as an outpatient.

The other two main forms of skin cancer are basal cell and squamous cell. These are not as serious as melanoma, but should still be treated.

vivatifosi

Apologies, had to stop previous post prematurely as I accidentally switched my keyboard to German and didn't want to lose what I had typed.

Just wanted to say if you have a good camera, an easy way to check evolution is to take a good quality close up, but to put a bit of soft tape measure in shot so you can measure exactly. I get DH to help with this. Also, every few months, you, as her partner should help DW look for other moles on her body.

Actually, this isn't bad practice for anyone with moles, and if you don't have a partner, it can still be done with mirrors.

But the key thing is yes, to be vigilant, but not to worry unduly.

Most moles aren't skin cancer
Of those that are, most aren't melanoma
Of those that are, 85% are caught early enough that they just need cutting out with no further treatment

Pyxis

Well, I've made an appointment with Boots to get two moles checked out. (They have a mole-scanning service).

One appeared recently on my face...... I had accidentally scratched it off, it bled and then grew back. It's very small but is raised a bit.

I've also developed moles on my back. No idea how long they've been there as you don't see your own back very often, but a good while, I'd say, probably some years.

And in a very awkward place to measure. It's hard enough getting a good look at them with mirrors. I only noticed them by accident.

I have started getting all sorts of marks and blemishes which I assumed were down to aging, and a few lumps and bumps ditto, the odd skin tag, etc.

What's annoying is that for a great many years I have shunned the sun, and my back and legs are never exposed! Face and hands you can't not expose, but I wear a hat and use Factor 50, or 30 at the least. In addition, my skin isn't the type that's susceptible to sun-induced '-omas', although that doesn't mean to say it'd never develop them.

Anyway, we used to have a drop-in mole clinic, but I think it got shut down, as I can't now find it, but then saw that Boots do this scan service, so I've booked in for that.

vivatifosi

In all likelihood it's nothing Pyxis, but better to get it checked out. They have very advanced scanning machinery these days that looks at dodgy moles and checks them against a very comprehensive database. I'm guessing it's something like this that Boots are able to offer.


Nothing wrong with being a member of the worried well Pyxis, once you know it's ok, you can move on. And if it is something more worrying, then as I hope I've shown in the previous two posts, it is rarely long term troublesome if caught early.

Pyxis

vivatifosi wrote: »

In all likelihood it's nothing Pyxis, but better to get it checked out. They have very advanced scanning machinery these days that looks at dodgy moles and checks them against a very comprehensive database. I'm guessing it's something like this that Boots are able to offer.


Nothing wrong with being a member of the worried well Pyxis, once you know it's ok, you can move on. And if it is something more worrying, then as I hope I've shown in the previous two posts, it is rarely long term troublesome if caught early.

Exactly.

I've never had a raised mole before, let alone one on my face!

Boots have recently started this service in selected towns and cities...

http://www.boots.com/health-pharmacy-advice/skin-services/mole-scanning-service

You make an appointment online, then go along and have the mole scanned by a Screencancer SIAscope, and the scan is sent off to a lab and you get the results sent to you.
It's £35 for the first mole, and £15 for another mole scanned at the same time. I think you can get up to 4 moles done at the same time.

I know I could go to my GP, but this just saves the waiting.