The Cornerstone Difference*
It's July and we're focusing on our skin with this issue of In Your Corner, so for our first "Cornerstone Difference" story, I'd like to talk about how we prefer to go about skin cancer screening at Cornerstone.
One of our patient's--we'll call this patient Marvin--called up one day and asked to be seen. We arranged for an appointment that afternoon. When he came in, he said he'd noticed a spot on his leg that he wanted me to look at. Marvin had completed his mole tracking with us the year before. In the process of examining him and reviewing his prior results, I saw the spot he was concerned about was previously present, but I also saw a spot on the other leg that had changed from the year before. Even though the spot was small, I recommended a biopsy. After discussion Marvin agreed, and so we did it at that appointment. The biopsy results came back showing precancerous changes and we arranged for Marvin to have a wider excision, which went well. Marvin was very grateful and said he never would have suspected that spot was a problem.
In this issue we will discuss how common skin cancer is, some ways to try and prevent it, and how important it is to catch it early when it does occur. At Cornerstone we use digital mole tracking to help improve our ability to screen for and catch skin cancer when it is early. While no system is perfect, we believe using high quality imaging to look for and track changes is one way we go above and beyond with the care we provide to patients.
*(The Cornerstone Difference is a regular column utilizing short stories about real patients to illustrate how we're different than traditional primary care practices. For privacy protection we change potentially identifying characteristics.)
Summer sun, summer savings!
It's that time of year again when we're reminded to wear broad-spectrum sunscreen, long layers, big floppy hats, and sunglasses. Use at least SPF 30 that protects from both UVA and UVB rays. Although many of us can't imagine going without at least a little sunny boost of natural Vitamin D, it is important to be smart about it: check your freckles and moles for changes (or go to a practice like Cornerstone that uses advanced technology to improve skin cancer screening!) Skin cancer is, by far, the most common kind of cancer, and the most concerning kind-melanoma- is the 5th & 6th most common cancer overall for men and women respectively.
There are five signs you should look for when checking the status of your freckles and your moles. The Skin Cancer Foundation calls them the ABCDE's:
A - Asymmetry. If the two opposite sides of a mole don't match up, have your doctor look at it.
B - Border. If the mole has an indistinct or irregular border, have your doctor look at it.
C - Color. If the mole has more than one color, have your doctor look at it.
D - Diameter. If the mole is larger than a pencil eraser, have your doctor look at it.
E - Evolving. If the mole changes, have your doctor look at it.
Some of us didn't do as good of a job protecting ourselves from sun damage when we were younger, and even though it's important to do so now, our past exposure still puts us at risk of developing a skin cancer like melanoma. Catching melanoma early is very important because the survival rate is <20% when caught late but is 99% curable when it is caught early..
If you have a mole that gives you a pause, ask your doctor to look at it. If you have a plethora of moles or would just prefer to have us to assist you in monitoring the behavior of your freckles and moles using our digital mole tracking system, let us know. We are the only primary care practice in Hampton Roads with this technology, which allows Dr. Dowd to zoom-in and analyze moles up close, and monitor for changes from one year to the next. ( You don't have to be a Cornerstone patient to take advantage of this technology--call us to find out how, and about our limited-time, summer mole-tracking discounted rate!) We wish you all a wonderful summer!
An OBX Get-Away!
At the end of June, Dr Dowd, his wife Cynthia, and their five children took off to the Outer Banks with the rest of his family for a week-long vacation, making sandcastles, riding waves, and taking a Jeep ride to see wild horses! They visited the Wright Brothers' Memorial, celebrated his father's 75th birthday, and Dr Dowd even cooked! ("Yes, I cooked. I learned how much I like Quinoa.") Way to go, Doc! It was great fun, and a superb time spent with his family.
The Whole Crew!
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What's in Season: Summer Squash & Tomatoes
Summer Recipe: Zucchini Boats
Ingredients:
Squash
Cherry/grape tomatoes
Reduced fat shredded cheese of choice
Whole wheat panko bread crumbs
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Wash and cut squash in half length wise, scoop out seeds to ake boat
3. Brush extra virgin olive oil on squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. Cut tomatoes in half, place in boats
5. Sprinkle bread crumbs over top
6. Bake for 20 minutes then sprinkle cheese on top and broil until melted
7. Add fresh basil leaves for added flavor
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Melanoma doesn't like aspirin?
A recent analysis of the Women's Health Initiative revealed that postmenopausal women who took aspirin had an 11-30% reduction in the development of melanoma compared with women who did not take it regularly. The longer the duration of aspirin use, the greater the magnitude of risk reduction that was observed. This is not definitive, but there are now several studies associating use of aspirin or similar medications with reductions in different types of cancer.
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Want to learn more from Cornerstone Private Practice and Dr. Christopher Dowd?
Check our our blog!
Looking for more?
Check out our website!
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Happy Summer!
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