BLU LIGHT

Not me.

After years of wandering around on our planet in the direct rays of our star called Sol, the accumulated affects of sunlight have finally had their way with me.  This is known as Actinic Keratoses.

If one lives beyond the age of 40 years and have one or more of the risk factors such as fair skin, blond or red hair particularly if combined with blue, hazel or green eyes, then you are eligible for AK.

I had always thought that the small amount of Native American genes in my body would have counteracted the fair skin sensitivity I inherited from my Norwegian and Danish ancestors.  Apparently not.  Over the past few years, dry, scaly patches began showing up on my forehead, nose and along side my nose.  Scratching off the dry skin only made angry looking red spots.

At first, I associated the affliction as the results of being over 40 and thus having old man skin.  I even went so far as to apply sun-block lotion but this was too little too late.

I figured I should do something about it but having a fear of becoming addicted to Doctors and the medical experimentations of modern medicine, I kept putting off having it checked out.   The lovely Margie kept nagging me about it so I finally made the call and made an appointment to have it looked at.  It took the doctor about 30 seconds to ascertain that I was the proud owner of Actinic Keratoses and they needed treatment before they turned into Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma and the deadly Melanoma. 

Since I'm old enough to no longer believe I'm immortal, I heed words such as "could be deadly" or "hazardous to your health" with some serious thought.  Not that I always abide by the warnings, like always wearing a seat belt, but I do watch where I step and avoid those dangerous things on sidewalks that open up to the bowels of street businesses.

So, making the appointment to have what is known as the "Blu Light" treatment, a month later the day came to have it done.  The brochure said the treatment only takes 17 minutes, which I thought would be a piece of cake.  I should have read the small print where it says that an application of the Levulan Kerastick topical solution would take a couple of hours to work into the pores of the skin.  This was after a vigorous wash by nurse Kathy with volcanic pumice to loosen any dead skin or large pores with matter hidden within.

Two and a half hours later, after a short nap, nurse Kathy sets up the "Blu Light" machine, which looks like a U shaped hair dryer from the old time salons.  Inside are 6 or 7 bent fluorescent tubes that emit a cool blue light, hence the name Blu Light.  At least I think its blue.  One wears a pair of eye protectors that look like swim goggles but they are solid so you can't see through them.

Once the blue light is turned on, where ever one has AK spots, they burn and sting like being burned with a lit cigarette.  A hose with cool air being blown out of it is given to you so that the air helps ease the burning sensations.  When the burning becomes too intense, water is dabbed onto the face to help lessen the fiery feelings.  (I couldn't help but think this is what is done when someone is to be electrocuted.  They put wet sponges at the contact points to help the electrical charge along.)  No apprehension here...

A long 17 minutes finally come to an end, the light is turned off, my face feels like its on fire and I feel just the little bit disoriented.  The nurse applies an ice-cold compress to my face and restates my after procedure activities.  No sun, which means no sunlight.  Not just the direct UV sunrays but no sun light at all.  Just regular sun light has those UVA rays that are called aging rays and they are everywhere except at night.  Also use cold compresses to help with the swelling and no sun light.

We have 4 skylights on our roof, windows on every wall so protecting the inside of our house is kind of difficult.  Once home, we closed all the curtains and put some cardboard in the living room skylight.  I'll live as a vampire for the next couple of days and learn to apply sun-screen so I don't have to undergo this again.

Scary facts:  Nearly one person dies from melanoma every hour and more than 120,000 Americans develop melanoma every year.  It is the deadiest form of skin cancer.  Since its preventable, take care and stay out of the sun.