Today is Monday 2nd November 2026 and this is my first post in real time.
It's an opportunity to slow things down after a multitude of memories have competed for a place in the previous posts describing my personal experience up to this point. Perhaps even a time for reflection before the plastic surgeon delivers my lab results tomorrow morning.
Everyone in this blog's ensemble cast so far has been introduced for a purpose. My encounters with them are amongst my strongest memories. It's quite a list:
I started this blog almost three weeks ago, on Wednesday 14th October 2026. I was unsure whether or not something so personal yet also so public was for me. My rationale for considering it was unclear. What did I hope to achieve, and why?
My post-op recovery was going well and no longer preoccupied me. And believe me, if you were in a constant state of hypervigilance about the importance of ensuring your blood pressure stayed nice and low because if it didn't your scalp could pop wide open, you'd be preoccupied about that as well.
I knew I was therefore ready for something to fill my time. To distract me while I waited to receive my lab results.
Starting a blog was the last thing on my mind but as I browsed the site one morning I became curious. I wasn't heading for my usual breakfast destination of You Tube, so I reasoned that something in this blogging business must have caught my eye.
After reading a few blogs I concluded it probably wasn't for me. They tended to be filled with references to prescribed drugs, treatments and procedures with unpronounceable names and made me feel distinctly uneasy. Was this the life that awaited me? Is this what this horrible cruel disease had in store for me? I could almost hear its menacing whisper, welcoming me to its world and promising me a future in which I too could have an encyclopaedic knowledge to better most medical, surgical and pharmaceutical textbooks.
But then I came across a blog that wasn't like that at all. I thought it was a very moving human tale that constantly understated the challenges whilst embracing the occasional positives with such poignancy. One thing led to another and the person writing that blog helped me find the inspiration to try it out for myself. And in the process we've connected in a way that makes me feel privileged and grateful.
But an important question remains unanswered.
What about those common misconceptions?
There are probably quite a few of them that I haven't even noticed, but have I adequately addressed the two most obvious? I'm unsure about that and need to give them a quick mention while I'm here.
The misconception I've challenged head on (in Actinic Keratosis) is the attribution of blame. Anyone who gets skin cancer has only themselves to blame. If you'd taken enough care in the sun you wouldn't be in this mess. And so on. And so forth. Well, that might be true for some folk. But not for everyone.
Possibly the greatest misconception of all is to be found in the name of this blog. I can't see how this can ever be adequately addressed. The public health messaging is clear. Stay safe in the sun and you'll be okay. In other words, sunshine poses a safety risk but sod that and get your next beach holiday booked straight away.
If you can think of a way to make the message of this blog discoverable to those who need to see it, please go right ahead.
Meanwhile, my pathology results await me.
