What are you doing today?

[gwand]

I'm at day 6 on an 8 day chemo cream treatment for pre-cancerous sunspots on my head. I look like a vertical rummy nose tetra, but so far, it's manageable. It beats the alternative.
I shouldn't go into direct sunlight, and since I apply the cream myself, I can't risk getting any in the tanks. It's pretty toxic. I'm being careful not to spread it by mistake, so I'm neglecting my poor fish.

The fish have told me to warn you to wear sunscreen and hats. I figure this is from decades of baseball, then softball, as I'm not a suntan/beach guy, and tend to live the vampire life of a person with a fishroom. And I thought the biggest problem from too much sun was algae on the tank glass...

Sorry to hear that. Take your medicine regularly. I know you will. But listen to punk music. It kills cancer cells.

 

[GaryE]

Sorry to hear that. Take your medicine regularly. I know you will. But listen to punk music. It kills cancer cells.

I'm taking that as a prescription from a respected doctor! Later, when I go out to the fishroom to do not much as I'm keeping my hands away from the water, I'll play some very ancient first wave punk bands very loud. Doctor's orders.

Back in the house, I'll go for baroque.

 

[gwand]

“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.”
Merchant of Venice

 

[Innesfan]

The fish have told me to warn you to wear sunscreen and hats.

Good advice. And have an annual exam with a dermatologist.

Sorry to hear this, @GaryE but it sounds like you're on top of it.

 

[GaryE]

Those of us who lack decent skin pigment have to be careful. I have ancestors who were slaves in the USA, or who wondered what was up when European boats arrived on the coast of Labrador, but I got the Irish skin. While I've had over ten years of liquid nitrogen treatments for actinic keratosis sunspots, the dermatologist thought they were coming in too fast, and the risk of one turning to cancer was getting high.

My GP and I thought things were accelerating, so 2 weeks later I was sitting in a specialist's office getting a biopsy done. It was just pre-cancerous, but it made sense to obliterate the problem before one of the spots went rogue.

The man in the morning mirror ain't pretty, but he never has been. It's a bit like doggedly inflicting a really fierce sunburn on yourself - nothing worse than that. I have to wear a hat all the time anyway, as a bald guy, and I have to shun the sun to a greater degree for a few weeks. It's nothing like the real chemo I saw my wife go through, if anyone is reading this and wondering about needing the same treatment. It ruins a week and mildly roasts you.

When I was younger and went to a beach, girls would rush to gather round me as the sunlight would reflect off my ribs and help them tan. I've never been a shirtless guy type, so that has helped in my older age. It's the dome. Beware people who work or play outdoors. Use what's encased in that skull to protect what's on top of it!

For fishkeeping - one of the creams is very thick and sticky. I use gloves to apply them, but I am concerned that in spite of precautions, I could technically poison a fishtank. I expect the cyto-toxins would not do my fish good, so I won't make any contact with water or equipment until 24 hours after the meds are done. I have ideas of what I'd like to do, but they can wait. It's been a boring week. I never even turn the TV on in the normal run of things, but I've been watching baseball, Ted Lasso and hockey, and sitting around like some sort of toxic waster.

 

[Essjay]

My husband and both sons are bald/have very thin hair and all three wear hats outside. Younger son favours baseball caps, older son prefers a straw trilby while husband has both of those plus a lightweight northern English 'flat cap'.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hats are good. I get fried on the tops of my ears, occasionally my nose, and I've had to get the liquid nitro on some spots around my left eye. So far no cancer or precancer.

Gary, I'm the same way at the beach. Fortunately, no one really wants to look at a glowing toothpick, so I generally keep my shirt on.

 

[MaloK]

girls would rush to gather round me as the sunlight would reflect off my ribs and help them tan.

I can relate "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy".

 

[gwand]

“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.”
Merchant of Venice

This study is by a Canadian scientist so it must be true.

Brain rhythms synchronize with music to create emotional and physical responses

An international study co-authored by McGill psychologist Caroline Palmer suggests our brains and bodies don't just understand music, they physically resonate with it. These discoveries, based on findings in neuroscience, music, and psychology, support Neural Resonance Theory (NRT).

medicalxpress.com

 

[Innesfan]

Been there with the liquid nitrogen treatments. Barely an annual exam at the dematologist goes by without him zapping something, usually on my forehead.

In the same vein, in addition to the other precautions, my ophthalmologist says wearing sunglasses is also recommended since the sun can damage the cornea and retina.

 

[Essjay]

I bought a new pair of sunglasses after my cataract operations, glasses with lenses that curve round at the sides. Natural eye lenses provide a degree of UV protection but synthetic ones don't provide any so I'm now at greater risk of macular degeneration.

I had basal cell carcinoma in my 30's, probably the result of scarring from a chemical or radiation burn rather than UV. It had to be in a place where it couldn't just be cut out and the cut edges stitched together, the side of my nostril over the cartilage part. I needed plastic surgery to take a flap of skin from my cheek to repair the damage.