Cosmetic Surgery That’s Not Optional

Is it summer yet?

Actually I like winter. And winter is a good time to take care of summer's sins.

Or, like in the case of Barbara Grufferman, cumulative years of summer sins.

Grufferman, the authorThe Best of Everything after 50: The Expert's Guide to Style, Sex, Health, Money, and More, makes an ideal posterwoman for all of us because — following her own advice in the very first chapter -– she starting checking herself for potential health hazards.

She admits she was a baby oil and iodine girl (this combo is new to me—anyone else out there do this?), and spent hours soaking up the sun basted with this concoction.

So, 50 or so years (actually less, she did not do this at 4 years old!) later she finds herself having to undergo corrective treatment.

"Dr. Olympia Kovich, my regular dermatologist, did her usual annual full body and face check a few months ago, and strongly urged me to get a procedure, Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), on my face because of the Actinic Keratosis she saw, especially on the area above my upper lip."

Actinic Keratosis is a form of "pre cancer" — meaning that any one of [these spots] can, not necessarily will, turn into skin cancer, so it's best to remove them. Photodynamic Therapy is one way to do that.

"Dr. Kovich was especially concerned because last year she spotted a tiny red, suspicious-looking mark on my chest, which, when biopsied, turned out to be basal cell carcinoma," Grufferman says.

Grufferman had Mohs Surgery (named for the doctor who created it, Dr. Mohs) to remove that spot and in a followup on the surgery, found the spots on her upper lip.

"lt's definitely better," Grufferman says now of her skin after the PDT perfomed by Dr. Julie Karen and spending several days in the dark to heal before the holidays. "Can't have any light, natural or otherwise, hit my face. I can use the computer for short amounts of time, with the light way down — thank goodness for reading glasses."

"An added benefit," she says, "is that my skin overall seems better, but according to the doctor, and information I gathered before going through with it, PDT is not a procedure one does for 'cosmetic reasons' like a chemical peel for example."

So take advantage of the lower light in winter, and more time spent indoors, and go get your skin checked. It's a beautiful way to take care of yourself.