I promised in an earlier post that I would discuss my experience with Solaraze, so presented now for your reading pleasure...
As my dermatologist was casually looking over my arms and legs and dropping subtle little hints that I probably have, at a minimum basal cell carcinoma, she talked about using a medicated gel to treat the precancerous places on my legs. Of course I was immediately perplexed because she said that we would only use it on my legs but would just monitor my arms??? Go figure. So after all the numbing, scraping, and shave biopsy action she handed me a sample bag, discount card, and a prescription for Solaraze 5% topical solution. She asked, in passing if I could take/use NSAIDs to which I replied "yes" because I have taken them before. Even though her nurse had documented my allergies (note I am allergic to aspirin) she didn't notice or ask about said allergies.
Well, I show up at my local CVS for my prescription and nearly fall out from the price tag for this 100 ml tube of 5% Solaraze....even with my insurance benefit it was going to be north of $150. Luckily, the handy little discount card from the pharmaceutical company allowed me to pay a whopping $20 for this same tube.....was I a happy camper or what?
Wednesday of last week I start using the gel twice a day as prescribed choosing first to use the samples I had been provided. One day down...no issues with the gel. Thursday comes and goes with 2 more applications of this gel with no issues. Friday morning I begin to notice that I was not feeling like my self....mild headache, a bit nauseated, and a bit of a rash on my legs. Not to be slowed down, I pressed on through the day because I was doing volunteer work for 24 Hours of Booty, learn more HERE, and for my son's high school band. By the time I got home Friday afternoon I was really out of sorts and just sat on the couch all night. I got little to no sleep Friday night because of severe stomach cramps. Saturday was another morning spent fighting off a severe headache so I could go to Columbia, SC and visit my sophomore at USC. When it came time to leave, I handed my wonderful wife the keys and she knew at that point that I wasn't feeling well. You see, I don't like giving up the wheel when we travel...I am not a very good passenger. About 5 minutes in to our drive and I started getting motion sickness. I am an avid roller coaster enthusiast so I never get motion sick!! Something wasn't quite right. Saturday night was a 2nd straight night with severe cramps and many trips to the toilet....
Fast forward to Sunday morning, a little Google research on side effects of Solaraze, and some conversation with my wife and I decide to stop using this stuff and leave a message with my dermatologist's office. As Sunday progressed I noticed the dizziness, the cramping, and headache started to subside and my appetite slowly came back. Monday morning, I spent a fantastic hour on the phone with a Navigate Cancer Foundation oncology nurse practitioner during which I relayed my experiences from the past week. Her first question was, "by any chance you would not be allergic to aspirin are you"..... DING, DING, DING, DING we have a potential winner!!! She concurred with my decision to discontinue use and consult with my dermatologist again. I had already called the office a 2nd time and was waiting on a call back at this point.
So, how does this little novella end you ask? My dermatologist said stop using Solaraze and that we would discuss other options on my next appointment on April 28th.
Showing posts with label solaraze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label solaraze. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
My world has changed....
So, I have had little annoying places on my arms and legs for about 2 years. I never gave them much thought until I went in for my VA annual physical this year. The VA doctor recommended that I see a dermatologist, which I must say startled me just a little. Since we still have good private insurance I called my dermatologist and scheduled an appointment.
So, on Monday April 11, 2011 I went to my dermatologist. I showed her the spot my VA doctor told me to have looked at and she immediately said that it was harmless and called it, for lack of a better term, an old age spot....me 44, old age spot??? Then she started looking at the annoying places on my arms and asked if I had spent a lot of time in the sun as a kid. Of course, having grown up on a farm having to work outside throughout the day most of the summer I got burnt and tanned every year. She told me the places on my are were actinic keratosis, which are pre cancerous cells. As she checked both arms she came to a spot on my right shoulder and immediately asked if I knew about that particular spot. I had seen it in the mirror and thought it was a pimple....she took out her marker, circled it, and said "we are going to test that one".... in a very calm, matter of fact tone. She then moved to my legs and found another spot that she circled.... Now, I am getting worried! The other spots on my legs were deemed to be pre cancerous as well but she was going to treat them with a medicated gel. The worst spots on my arm were frozen off before the biopsy procedure.
The two spots were subjected to a "shave biopsy" and she gave me a prescription for a Solaraze for the spots on my legs, 16 weeks worth of treatments. I was told that the biopsy results would take about a week but she (my dermatologist) was 99.9% certain the spot on my shoulder was cancer. So I went back to work.
The next afternoon, at around 4:15 pm my phone rang and it was the doctor's office....I answered the phone and was told that I had skin cancer!!! That had to be the hardest thing to hear since I got the call that I had lost my Mom to cancer (we'll save that story for later as I have never really recovered from that day). The only positive to take from this phone call was that the skin cancer I have is basal cell carcinoma.
This is the most common and easiest to treat of the skin cancers. The doctor scheduled me for a "d and c" which is dilation and curettage for the place on my shoulder...basically cut and scrape the location until all of the cancer cells are believed to be removed. I picked up the prescription for the Solaraze and started using it on Thursday....that will have to be a separate post as well.
So, this blog will now chronicle my journey with skin cancer. I have subsequently found two more places on my right leg that look just like the place on my right shoulder. I will have them examined next Thursday when I am scheduled for the d&c procedure.
So, on Monday April 11, 2011 I went to my dermatologist. I showed her the spot my VA doctor told me to have looked at and she immediately said that it was harmless and called it, for lack of a better term, an old age spot....me 44, old age spot??? Then she started looking at the annoying places on my arms and asked if I had spent a lot of time in the sun as a kid. Of course, having grown up on a farm having to work outside throughout the day most of the summer I got burnt and tanned every year. She told me the places on my are were actinic keratosis, which are pre cancerous cells. As she checked both arms she came to a spot on my right shoulder and immediately asked if I knew about that particular spot. I had seen it in the mirror and thought it was a pimple....she took out her marker, circled it, and said "we are going to test that one".... in a very calm, matter of fact tone. She then moved to my legs and found another spot that she circled.... Now, I am getting worried! The other spots on my legs were deemed to be pre cancerous as well but she was going to treat them with a medicated gel. The worst spots on my arm were frozen off before the biopsy procedure.
The two spots were subjected to a "shave biopsy" and she gave me a prescription for a Solaraze for the spots on my legs, 16 weeks worth of treatments. I was told that the biopsy results would take about a week but she (my dermatologist) was 99.9% certain the spot on my shoulder was cancer. So I went back to work.
The next afternoon, at around 4:15 pm my phone rang and it was the doctor's office....I answered the phone and was told that I had skin cancer!!! That had to be the hardest thing to hear since I got the call that I had lost my Mom to cancer (we'll save that story for later as I have never really recovered from that day). The only positive to take from this phone call was that the skin cancer I have is basal cell carcinoma.
This is the most common and easiest to treat of the skin cancers. The doctor scheduled me for a "d and c" which is dilation and curettage for the place on my shoulder...basically cut and scrape the location until all of the cancer cells are believed to be removed. I picked up the prescription for the Solaraze and started using it on Thursday....that will have to be a separate post as well.
So, this blog will now chronicle my journey with skin cancer. I have subsequently found two more places on my right leg that look just like the place on my right shoulder. I will have them examined next Thursday when I am scheduled for the d&c procedure.
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