# The Melanoma Centre- I Outdid Myself Today

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 24, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946 "2007-07-24T12:10:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946/1 "2007-07-24T12:10:11Z")

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As part of my regular check up, I get sun spots burned off before they become skin cancers. Today, I had 72 burned off- and they didn’t even touch my face. I have to undergo some special treatment for that with a cream that virtually makes you stay indoors for a month.

72?

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946/2 "2007-07-24T15:52:28Z")

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[QUOTE=Cicero]  
As part of my regular check up, I get sun spots burned off before they become skin cancers. Today, I had 72 burned off- and they didn’t even touch my face. I have to undergo some special treatment for that with a cream that virtually makes you stay indoors for a month.

72?  
[/QUOTE]

Eeeeyouch! What do they do the burning with? lasers? acid? a lit match?

**Typo Knig** had melanoma but they just do a thorough check every 6 months, and occasionally do a punch biopsy of a mole. So far nothing else has turned nasty (his melanoma was stage zero) but every visit we quote Star Trek “Soon there will be no Chekov, only samples”. Hence, his 6-month visits aren’t “check-ups” but, well, “chek-ovs”.

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**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946/3 "2007-07-25T00:42:25Z")

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“Burn” here likely means _freeze_ … as in cryogenically treating the offending tissue.

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**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946/4 "2007-07-25T08:29:12Z")

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Yes- it was done with liquid nitrogen.

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**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-melanoma-centre-i-outdid-myself-today/412946/5 "2007-07-25T11:25:08Z")

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Aahhhhh! The fruits of a misspent youth! Well do I remember the days spent on the beach in North Queensland, coming home red as a lobster and blistered behind the knees. Touch wood, no skin cancers yet!