The Spot That Wouldn't Heal: Basal Cell Carcinoma Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe basal cell carcinoma, the world's most common cancer and one of the most easily ignored. Writers describe how it was found — while shaving, under a hair parting, in the reflection of an espresso machine, by a wife, a barber or a stylist — and the shapes it took: a pearly bump, a pink patch called eczema, a shaving nick that never closed, a dark spot taken for a mole. There is the biopsy and the wait, then the treatment that suited the spot and the person: Mohs surgery layer by layer beside an eye or nose, a flap borrowed from the forehead, curettage, freezing, imiquimod or fluorouracil cream that made things look worse before they got better, radiotherapy at eighty, and a daily tablet for an advanced case. Writers include surfers, a welder, a postman, a long-haul driver with a sun-damaged left arm, young women from the tanning-bed years, darker-skinned patients nobody thought to check, and people with an inherited syndrome who expect many more. Later chapters cover recurrence in the same place, a drawing salve that burned healthy skin, the cost without insurance, long public-hospital queues, and lifelong skin checks.

Who it's for

For anyone with a sore that will not heal, people facing Mohs surgery on the face, those on their fifth or fifteenth BCC, and outdoor workers and partners who want to know what to look for.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 271 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.