I met my husband in 1974 and I noticed that he had scars and marks on his face, hands and arms.  He told me they were solar keratosis and he was seeing a skin specialist who was treating the lesions by cutting some out and burning some off with liquid nitrogen.  I was not happy with the rather casual attitude they both had to the issue. That same year he had an ophthalmic surgeon add a tiny quarter moon shape piece of skin under his lower right eyelid.  The cancer had pulled his eyelid down and caused dry eye and other issues. This solved the problem somewhat.

 

I insisted we see another surgeon/dermatologist and ended up seeing a man a few doors down the corridor.   This surgeon took one look and ordered my husband into the clinic the next day.  A particular lesion that had been burnt of numerous times was not going away and this concerned him.  The surgery was long and two days later had to return to the hospital because the lab found his margins were not quite wide enough.  This also involved a large skin flap which took some time to take and heal.

 

The original dermatologist then suggested Ron cover his entire face with Efudix which had the unfortunate result of being too dramatic a treatment.  He was in agony, his face was swollen and he could barely see out of his eyes. I was very angry with the doctor and told him so!

 

Some 7 years had passed by now and we moved from Johannesburg to the Cape into a small country town.  This enabled us to see a new dermatologist in George.  He took the matter of Ron’s skin very seriously.  He treated a few minor things but suggested we visit the cancer unit at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.  We could, as senior citizens, get this treatment free or at much reduced prices. There was a team of doctors that examined Ron at the hospital and their consensus was to use different creams, oral chemo and small surgeries. 

 

Finally in 2009 his skin had deteriorated dramatically and he had to have major surgery to his left cheek, using skin from his thigh, they also removed the glands on the left side of his neck which resulted in a large dent on the side of his neck.  They removed a portion of his chin and that graft didn’t take.  I went to see him in hospital and the smell was ghastly.  I eventually got the nursing staff organized and the wound was cleaned and dressed.  It was during this phase of treatment that I found out there were basal cell and squamous cell lesions.

 

It was around the end of 2009 that they told me there was nothing further they could do.  He had had all treatments that were available but the cancer was now spreading.  I took Ron to an acupuncturist and for the first time, he was pain-free.  Not cancer free, but not in pain.

 

Our daughter was to be married in 2010 but brought forward her wedding date to 18 December 2009 so her father could attend.  He was heavily medicated for pain but managed to get through the day.  Ron passed on the18 March 2010.  My daughter gave birth to twins on 18 March 2011 so I can’t really be too sad that day as I have lovely granddaughters to have near me.

 

So:  we met in 1974, left Johannesburg in 2000, saw Dr in George and attended Groote Schuur Hospital, had a final diagnosis in 2009, and died three months later.

Ron’s father had the same cancer, and so did his younger brother, both of whom passed before Ron did.  His older sister passed from breast cancer sometime earlier too.

 

I wrote a recipe book with meals/drinks I made for Ron because it became difficult to chew and swallow. I have wanted to share it so that others can benefit.