First lady Bush treated for form of skin cancer

[Judi Lynn]

First lady Bush treated for form of skin cancer
15 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First lady Laura Bush was treated for skin cancer on her leg last month, her spokeswoman said on Monday.

Mrs. Bush did not appear to have difficulty walking at a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday but a bandage was visible below her right knee.

Mrs. Bush had a biopsy of a small sore on her leg in late October, revealing a squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common type of skin cancer, Susan Whitson, spokeswoman for the first lady, told Reuters.

Mrs. Bush had the small growth removed from the shin area of her right leg shortly after Election Day on November 7, she said.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061219/us_nm/bush_laura_dc_1

[aceman2373]

1. lets be nice now........

[pennylane100]

10. Yes, absolutely,

but its asking an awful lot.

[San Diego]

2. I pray for her speedy recover.

My best friend died of malignant melanoma earlier this year. By the time his cancer was found, it was already in stage 4. He died 49 days after discovery.


It is a horrible, horrible way to die. As much as I don't care for her, I don't wish her to die in the same manner.

[Contrite]

13. This is not life threatening at all.

Very common, easily removed.

[jaded_old_cynic]

29. Same here.

I just went through the same thing with my husband.
He too was already in the fourth stage at the time of his diagnosis in March. By then it had spread to his brain and other areas. He passed away little more than two months ago on Oct, 7th.
A very ugly disease. Here's hoping she will be ok.

[kestrel91316]

3. SCC: no biggie. Easily treated. Not going to spread widely and

kill her.

Sigh.

[CBHagman]

4. Everybody get your sunblock and head-to-toe exam.

You too, LWB. That Texas sun isn't your friend.

But the dermatologist is.

[Junkdrawer]

5. Risk increases for smokers...

http://thescooponsmoking.org/xhtml/effects/squamousCellCarcinoma.php

[journalist3072]

6. I wish Laura Bush a speedy recovery and divine health

As much as I detest much of her politics, I certainly do not wish her ill health.

I had to have 2 surgeries last year to completely remove what the pathologist determined what was an abnormal mole. Skin cancer is nothing to be taken lightly.

God bless her.

[partylessinOhio]

7. She is wearing a bandage five or six weeks later?

[Olney Blue]

8. Maybe her smoking is slowing the healing process.

[Changenow]

25. Which means the story is a lie

Nothing new there, but I wonder what really happened.

[hedgehog]

27. It's not just a matter of flaking off a scab.

Sometimes they have to cut quite deep to ensure that they have removed the entire tumor. It takes a while for the skin to grow back in to fill the wound.

[dflprincess]

42. My aunt has had this form of skin cancer on her face

she was given some kind of cream to put in on the area and it made her skin quite raw and she developed some scabs. She had to use the cream for a few weeks so it could be Pickles is using the the same kind of thing on her leg and may find it more comfortable (not to mention better to look at) to put a bandage on the area.

As cancer goes, this is not a big deal. I won't waste anytime praying for Pickles' health.

[ronnykmarshall]

9. Best wishes Laura.

Hope this isn't serious.

[kskiska]

11. I've never seen her in shorts

Even in 100 degree temperatures at the "ranch" she's always got long pants on.

[katsy]

12. so sorry, I thought the headline said pickles was being treated

AS a skin cancer.

Carry on.

[Oleladylib]

21. pointless comment.

[Puglover]

26. Oh good

another board nanny. We have so few.

[katsy]

32. You're right...

I should have made my point clearly.

IMO, the whole bush clan is a cancer upon society so I have no compassion for this little boo boo of hers. There are 49M people without health insurance that I'm more concerned with, as well as depleted uranium being used in Iraq that spreads cancers far worse than pickles in innocent children and troops and the general population.

I have no get well wishes for pickles. She is giifted with wealth and power and needs no sympathy from me. Understand now?

[Tight_rope]

I'm with you there

[graywarrior]

14. I wish Laura a loooooooonnnnnngggggg life.

[daleo]

15. A speedy recovery Mrs. Bush

If only the world could rid itself of your husband's malignant presidency so simply.

[LibDemAlways]

16. She has access to the best doctors and a health plan

second to none. Meanwhile,Chimp has done nothing to improve access to health care for ordinary citizens and there are no doubt many people out there right now who've noticed something suspicious but do nothing about it except worry because they can't afford treatment. This is a national disgrace.

[tblue37]

17. I get little basal cell skin cancers occasionally.

I have had three removed over the past 23 years. Small squamous or basal cell lesions are not life-threatening. They aren't that big a deal.

[llmart]

19. Yeah, but when it's a "Bush" it becomes a headline.......

I file this under "who gives a rat's ass?"

She, her husband and the rest of that clan are a cancer on our country.

[stanwyck]

34. I had my first one removed a couple of months ago

in office procedure. I'm going to be more careful in the future. I'm a redhead with freckles who sunburns easily. And I scuba dive every year in the Caribbean. So, I need to be very diligent with the sunscreen.
Good luck to you, TBlue. Let's stay healthy.

[tblue37]

35. Stanwyck--I am also

a redhead with freckles. Funny, since my father was a full-blooded first-generation Sicilian-American. But my mother's father was Russian and her mother was Angl0Irish/German, so I got the red hair and freckles from her side.

Even funnier is the fact that the tendency toward basal cell cancers was inehrited not from Mom, but from Dad and his mother--both of whom had several such cancers removed over their lifetimes. Grandma, who had four removed over many years, died at 94 of heart failure.

I figure I will probably die someday of heart failure or a stroke (Dad died of a stroke). I don't worry about the litle basal cell lesions.

[stanwyck]

40. Thanks, Tblue. And how interesting

that it's the Mediterranean side of the family with the history of skin cancer and not the Celtic/Anglo Saxon side. I've always been told I'm a likely candidate not only for skin cancer, but also osteoporosis since I'm a redhead with light skin.
Who knows what the future holds...which is why we should just enjoy each day as much as possible.
Have a wonderful holiday season.

[cyr330]

18. Poor Pickles!

[LeftishBrit]

20. Wishing her the best

I know people who've had that - it is one of the 'better' forms of cancer. Most people recover without problems.

[noonwitch]

22. Hopefully, this will encourage others to get checked out

One of my uncles died because he didn't get a basil cell cancer removed from his back. His doctor found it right before he was going to Florida for the winter, and my uncle decided it could wait to be removed until spring. When he got back, it had already metasized into liver cancer.

[Vinca]

23. I wish her only the best - a real trick since she's stuck with Dubya.

Maybe she kept it a secret because she knew there was an immediate crowd of about 50 million who would immediately carp about how they had no insurance and couldn't get their skin checked.

[TechBear_Seattle]

24. The Seattle P-I had the story this morning. I wrote a LttE in response

A relatively progressive paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer felt the need to carry this as an above-the-fold lead story titled, "First Lady's Cancer Scare." I write this letter to the editor in response.

I have to wonder if the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will have the courage in the near future to run articles about how the policies of the current administration are making skin and other cancers far more common than they ever have been in the past.

The White House and Congress have refused to require that power generating plants adhere to emissions standards, with the result that thousands of tons of carcinogens are ejected into the air above the United States every year. The White House and Congress have refused to ban MTBE and other known carcinogenic additives to gasoline. The White House and Congress have refused to take action toward mitigating the destruction of the ozone layer. The White House and Congress have dragged their feet in cleaning up toxic waste "Superfund" sites around the country. The White House and Congress have admitted to using highly toxic depleted uranium in the mass bombings of Afghanistan and Iraq.

When, pray tell, will this and the thousands of cancer related illnesses these cause every year merit an above-the-fold lead article?

(signed, etc.)

[partylessinOhio]

31. Bravissimo! You handed the PI a very pointed response!

Does anyone remember that the young man Laura killed never had a chance to grow older and perhaps get a curable skin cancer instead of death by manslaughter?

Laura Bush has had a very pampered and sheltered life and I feel no sympathy for her or anyone related to her.

[Catchawave]

28. I wish her well, but

what a missed opportunity to promote awareness :(

I guess I expect more from my First Ladies, but then I remember, she's a Bush.

[ChickMagic]

30. Perhaps it was Rumsfeld clinging for dear life

Seriously, I wish her well. She needs to have regular head to toe
check ups after this.

[donsu]

33. she's only one of thousands of us who have skin cancers removed

wish the skin doctors would get together and tell us the truth about how many skin cancers they remove a year. we'd probably faint at the numbers.

[KayLaw]

36. It's true

I'm about her age and suspect I'm next. When I was young we used baby oil with a drop of iodine for sunning. Having a pretty tan was just part of grooming for me and probably for her, too.

[Ian David]

37. I thought threre was nothing wrong with the ozone layer?

Poor Pickles.

She didn't plan on getting cancer before The Rapture, did she?

[bluedeminredstate]

38. Squamous cell carcinoma can metastisize

to other areas of the body - it's the basal cell carcinoma that's no biggie. Squamous CC's on the face, lips or ears are a particular worry and a large excision is usually done to get all the margins clear. If Squamous is caught early it's usually just an excision and that's it, but it can cause more complications than just a regular old basal CC. In certain cases, if left untreated, it can spread to lymph nodes which then send it traveling anywhere it wants to go in the body. Then it's chemo which makes it a big deal to the patient who has it.

If someone told me I had Squamous CC I wouldn't be as cavalier as you guys are being with her diagnosis. I'd want them to take as much of the surrounding tissue as possible and I'd be very, very careful about ANY sun exposure.

[jtm111]

43. yikes

I have skin cancer all over my hideous, incision-ridden face, the most recent excision is in biopsy right now, probably squamous.

Until I read your post, I had pretty much downplayed it. Thanks for the sound advice!!!

[bluedog]

39. Glad her insurance paidfor the removal

many of us would have to mortgage the house to get treatment!!

[Javaman]

41. Even air heads need our sympathy. I would never wish cancer on anyone.

Hope you recover well pickles.