Fourteen year-old freshman collapses and nears death for no apparent reason after completing his first season on the varsity soccer team. Healthy, strong and young didn’t fit what was happening. A split second, as the world spun fast and time stood still while Brody flirted with fatality.
Making the most of dealing with skin cancer, I am having a little fun with skin product experiments. Exhibiting new scars on my face, neck and ears, I made myself a walking “lab rat” for products that claim to work miracles. Trying to turn back the clock and take away some of the abuse and neglect I have caused my skin. The past six months I have researched and tested thousands of dollars worth of skin care products. Here are the first of my personal reviews on products that were first recommended to me:
StriVectin®
StriVectin-SD® & StriVectin-SD Eye Cream
Pricey but has WOW - Diminishes fine lines
Within two weeks of using the StriVectin eye cream I saw fewer lines around my eyes. My foundation and/or powder didn't clump in any way in the small lines or creases that remain around my eye area. I saw change, a more youthful look, after using this product for about a week. The first week I applied the SD formula to the back of one hand. This past summer I had an accident scaring about 1/3 of my hand. In just a week the SD formula faded the scar some but what I did notice remarkably, was my left hand appeared to be five years younger looking next to my right hand. The wrinkles were disappearing! I started applying the SD formula all over my face and hands after that!
Bare Escentuals - San Francisco
RareMinerals™ Blemish Therapy
Heals Conceals Plus - Gentle formula
Blemish Therapy takes away any oily looking spots or areas. Best if used after applying moisturizer (I like Purely Nourishing Facial Moisturizer together because if feels like your skin can breath - no clogged pore feeling) but before makeup. It does have an odor, but once you apply your powder or concealer the smell goes away and the finished look is well worth the little odor!
RareMinerals™ Renew & Reveal Facial Cleanser
I wish I had this product my whole life! Gently exfoliates and leaves skin feeling fresh but not stripped! It started out very messy, however once I learned to wet my face and hands first, then pour/sprinkle powder into palm of wet hand, mix gently with two fingers, then apply damp powder to face and massage in gently. It will feel somewhat like thick soft powdery paste. It sounds bad but feels wonderful.
RareMinerals™ Purely Nourishing Facial Moisturizer
Soft Skin - Light Weight
This is a wonderful product that really enhances the RareMineral line. It goes on light, no sticky or heavy feeling. In just minutes after applying my face feels smoother and softer.
bareVitamins - Skin Rev-er Upper
Vita Thirsty Skin
When your skin needs a little vitamin booster, this will quench the thirst. I use this at least once a day and after a few days my face felt revived and refreshed.
Buffing Brushes The Essential Collection
Brushes home or on the go
Useful! The container is great. I use both ends keeping my larger and smaller brushes separate. The collection has a good variety of brushes for nice and easy applications.
MD Skincare Dr Dennis Gross
Hydra-Pure Vitamin C Serum
Can’t do without
The first feel of this product is amazing. Knowing I am treating my skin to some well deserved Vita C was a plus but after a few uses I couldn't go without! I can really feel it "feeding" my skin. I feel it is important after applying this product wait a couple/few minutes and then apply moisturizer as well.
A new fight has entered my life. After battling the diagnosis and treatments of my son’s HCM heart disease, I decided it was time to make my own doctor’s appointment. The one I had missed and then postponed for over a year. That dreadful physical that no one I know wants to waste their time with. I had no idea of the importance of that once-a-year physical until now. I disclosed, to my physician, a scab that was next to my ear, because I kept catching it with my hair brush so it would not heal. After examining the area, I was quickly referred to a skin cancer specialist. You guessed it … the fight is on!
Traveling through several web sites like WebMD and MedicineNet (which are great!) sometimes you can learn a little too much. I had read and heard previously that about 90% of skin cancers are associated with exposure to UV radiation from the sun or tanning beds and approximately two million people are diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma and melanoma every year. But what I didn’t know was that one person dies every hour from melanoma.
I felt queasy sitting in the waiting room thinking of what was to come. Appointment’s were kept weekly, two stage two basal cell carcinoma’s and two stage two melanoma’s were found on my head and neck. My third MOHs surgery was to remove my second melanoma was to be taken. This one was from my neck and each was in a two month time frame. My neck was probably one of the scariest, although every time I go – I am always a bit anxious – but I had just heard of a close friend of an aunt who suffered nerve loss after surgery in the same area of the neck. Lucky to have caught it in stage two but still sick to my stomach, shaking in my shoes, were my only the feelings on the inside. Questioning the surgeon about my neck and he reassured me, surgery took place as scheduled and the healing process began. Scars on the surface can be covered by makeup and treated with vitamin lotions, but removing this cancer, I will fight it and if any new ones that show up they are in for a duel.
Running into my family’s living room my seven year old eyes wild with excitement and my smile lit my face as I saw all of my aunts and uncles filling the seats. A surprise visit! What was the occasion? I didn’t care. I was seven and it looked like Christmas! But what I didn’t know was … my grandmother had just passed away. Cancer had won, she had lost the fight.
My grandmother, several family members and a few dear friends have passed away because of cancer. Now even more close friends are engaged in this fierce battle … Cancer! Fear, sadness and grief over comes me when I recall the day that I was caught by surprise in my family’s living room. At the innocent age of seven when cancer personally became an unspeakable and terrifying word. So the shaking, the apprehension of a “little skin cancer” outpatient surgery still seems to shatter my soul because of the memories and fear of that cancer that lay deep within.
My Biopsy Tests:
First a local anesthetic is injected, and then the doctor performs a deep shave biopsy – the spot is shaved off with a razor blade. Area heals in just a few days and they send off the tissue to a lab for results.
I read that the Mohs micrographic surgery has the highest cure rate for basal cell. I never found that positive reinforcement for Melanoma, however I took the advice of my doctors and trust the tests of the lab that results of the last biopsy are cancer free.
Mohs surgeons remove the minimum amount of healthy tissue and totally remove the cancer eliminating all tumor roots. The technique – sections of the tissue that are removed in stages and sent to an onsite lab for slide preparation and study. This process is repeated until no tumor cells remain in the microscopic sections and the area is tumor free. At this point, they reconstruct the tumor site. My surgeon cut a flap of skin from a surrounding area and folds it over the wound. The surgeon then sews the skin in place for a fast recovery with little visible scars.
FYI: The A, B, C, D’s of Melanoma:
A=asymmetry
B=border irregularity,
C=color variability (brown, black, gray, pink)
D=diameter of (often) greater than ¼ inch
A Special thanks to: www.sephora.com
This company has introduced me to the best products to help restore, freshen, enhance and smoothen to create a healthier-looking skin, while protecting my skin from more damage that can happen with everyday living.
Listening to, reading and watching the news today, and the past few days, just tears at my heart. To see and hear about the devastation of Haiti’s earthquake is surreal. The catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake striking only 16 miles from Port-au-Prince Haiti’s capital January 12, 2010.
Several years have passed since I first walked the streets of Cap-Haitien, Haiti. Arriving on our family’s sailboat at Port de Cap-Haitien we walked the streets, saw the sites (Cathedral Notre-Dame of Cap-Haitien, Citadelle La ferrierre) and later traveled by bus to Port-au-Prince to visit the capital and tour the country. I actually don’t remember Port-au-Price that well. What I do remember, as if it were imbedded in my brain forever, is the bus ride, the people of Cap-Haitien and the smells
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The local’s of Cap-Haitien watched my every movement. I might not have totally understood why they were staring at me. Was it because I was a young white girl? All the locals were dark skinned, or was it because I had clothes on my back that bright in color and they hadn’t worn from years of being passed down from family members or not being washed with clean water. It could have been my long blond hair that was shiny clean and bounced with my every step. It could have been my skin that was dirt free and smelt like some botanical garden because of the shower and soap I had and used that morning. I hoped and prayed that my facial expressions were well hidden because the stench of the streets made my stomach very queazy. It was hard not to plug my nose or cover it and my mouth with my shirt to help stop the gag reflexes I had from the continued smell’s coming from the streets, the water and the people.
The bus ride was unforgettable. It could have been because it was the oldest bus I had ever seen, or the fact that while traveling across the country we hit every bump with a bang. No working shocks on a bus will cause one to fly into the air and be jolted which caused massive headaches for everyone. By the end of our journey we had sick stomachs from the bus movements and the disgusting odors, aching heads, soaked with sweat from the heat and sore arms and muscles from holding on. What I will never forget however … the gorgeous countryside and ocean views with perfect weather, and the Nations incredible history.
Haiti, now hit by a devastating earthquake which had little to begin with, has nothing – too little left.
I am proud of Americans today as I see friends, family members, famous people, rich people, middle class people, and people who have even suffered loss themselves are giving in some way to help Haiti.
Photo: Haiti Market Place 2008 by RuthAnne Anderson
