I don’t consider myself a particularly vain person. I have never been really pretty and so that has not been how I judged myself or how I judge others. Of course, I like to look at beautiful people, but I find that after the first impressions fade, everyone has got beautiful bits and not-so-beautiful bits.
However, I am really struggling with having this huge, bloody, scabby wound on my nose. It completely changes the way people look at me and react to me and so changes the way I react back. I feel all those bad words: deformed… a freak.. ugly…. gross…. frightening…….
I was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma – a little skin cancer – on the end of my nose. The great news is that this is treatable and does not usually spread or become really dangerous. I am so grateful for that. The bad news is that it has to be treated and none of the treatments are pleasant.
I have been trying to get it sorted for a long time. First of all I tried Solareze which should have burned it out but turned out not to. Now, I am using a cream called Imiquimod which works by stimulating the immune system. It causes the body to produce interferon, a chemical that attacks cancer. I have to rub it into the affected area on my nose 5 nights a week for six weeks.
GRATEFUL
If this doesn’t work then I may have to have it cut out and get reconstruction, so I am really grateful for this cream. But it is having a horrific effect. As you can see from the picture, I have a big, raised, red, raw, suppurating area all over the top of my nose. I am less than half way in, so this is only going to get worse. At the moment, it doesn’t hurt as long as I don’t knock it, so that is great too. But the way it looks is beginning to really get me down.
There are some really practical things: I can’t go out in the sun at all with it, which means that in Morocco, I am basically housebound or need to cover up with a bandage. I also have to be really careful not to knock it when I am getting dressed and also when I wash, drying is a very delicate operation. I can’t swim. I can’t really run/walk/bike/work out too hard because it starts to throb and seep and I am worried about infection from sweat.
But, the real problem is the way people look at me and how that makes me feel. Generally speaking, there are two camps: those who can only look at my nose, and those who don’t look at me at all but keep their eyes firmly down. People who catch me out of the corner of their eye, do a double take and then either stare or look away. Children are the most honest because they just stare but some of them are frightened. Some people ask me about it and that makes things a bit better because I can explain, but of course that is not possible for everyone. You also get the occasional idiot, “Hey, I like your nose,” a young guy yelled at me the other day as he and his mates had a good laugh. “Really? You like skin cancer?”
ASHAMED
So, how does it make me feel? It makes me ashamed. I know that that is totally irrational but there it is. I look like a freak and I feel like one. Normally I am really outgoing and chat with everyone I meet. I like my fellow human beings and am endlessly interested in them, but I can’t engage with them when they are looking at me in horror. It also impacts my work. How do you interview someone properly when they are uncomfortable with you?
There have been some funny moments, though. We have two kittens and they love the scab, they see it as dinner and keep lunging at it, gross but makes me giggle. One morning, I looked in the mirror and was horrified to see that it had spread up to my eyebrows in just one night. I prodded it gently just to find that I must have knocked it in my sleep and it was just that the scab had come off and travelled up. Again, gross but made me giggle. And my flatmate, Alice, calls me Rudolf…
There is a big positive, though. A real one. For the first time, and to a tiny degree, I understand a little of what it is like to be looked at/judged/categorised because you look different to everyone else. Suddenly, I am not Alice any more I am just an ugly wound on a nose. I am really hoping that my problem is temporary and will be over in three and a half more weeks but I also really hope that this experience makes me more empathetic to anyone who feels that they do not fit “normal” and suffers because of it. A lifetime of that would take a lot of courage to deal with.
Postscript: October 2019. The cream worked and my nose went back to normal. It was such a relief to just be able to go about my ordinary day and interact with people as me not a nose. I have just found another little rough patch on my forehead I need to get checked. Please, wear your sunscreen and take care! And always check your products are cruelty free – so many ARE NOT because although they don’t test in Europe, animal testing is obligatory in China and the big companies sell to China. Just google “is xxx cruelty free”
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A really thought provoking piece. And am thinking of you.
Thanks Libby! I felt a lot better for writing it down. I am thinking of you too and hope all is really well with you.
I know you are very strong woman and am sure that will bring the best out of Alice. hope your treatment goes well. pray for you my mentor.
Thank you Hussein. You are so kind! How are you? How is life? Are you in Cairo right now? I hope all is going well for you my dear Egyptian Mentor!!
I would probably be one of those people who notices but doesn’t say anything because it’s not my business and might be a sensitive subject. So then try to ignore it but probably not v well 🙁 Thank you so much for your honesty and I wish you a speedy recovery. Being housebound and restricted in what you can do is no fun (I’m recalling a time I had surgery) but it won’t be forever…..You’ll be back on an adventure in no time!
Thank you Sarah. I just ventured down to the big souk in Marrakech because I am going stir crazy! I hope you are fully recovered from your surgery and yes am counting the weeks to be honest – probably a bit silly as it will take longer than the six weeks of treatment to heal but it is great to have an end in sight – 3weeks and one day to go.
Well, Alice, I have known you were beautiful since we met at 19. And yes, good to see how it is for people only to see one thing. Hope this treatment works fine!
Crazy Amanda. Can you believe we have known each other that long? I would love to see you soon. And thank you for the kind comment!
Alice, I wouldn’t have expected you to react any differently than how you have outlined – The characteristic honesty, sensitivity and super-perceptive awareness that epitomises you in everything you do is woven through your words. Like all your experiences, this will make you grow even more and for those who can only see as far as your nose … well, its their loss. Your nose will recover and they will still remain crass and insensitive.
Steve, thank you so much. What a lovely comment. Totally don’t deserve such praise but really thank you from me AND the nose!
Courage Alice, i m so sure you will recover soon
Thank you!
A very honest and interesting blog. I wish you a speedy recovery and know once you can be active again you will feel better. I had a lady at work have a similar experience and it’s very difficult, she also said talking about it with people helped lots.
Thanks Gavin!
I’ve been following your tweets since the mds, I’m doing it in 2017.. Your tweets help make me get out running that much earlier in the morning! 🙂 Loved reading your very honestand touching writing. Wishing you a very speedy recovery.
Thank you so much Rochelle! How’s the training going??
It may interest you to Google ‘Rick Simpson’s cure for skin cancer’ if you are open to alternatives. Tres bon courage.
Thank you
Thank you Sally. I will.
Alice, your experience reminds me of a couple of times in my life when I’ve had to reassess my own idea of the precious health and body image we all normally take for granted. But these experiences ultimately help us to grow in compassion and understanding. Good on you Alice for writing this and publishing your picture. Admiration. Hope it is gone very soon. Jx
Thank you Julie. I hope those times have passed for you.
PS. Alice Morrison’s beauty goes far deeper than her nose. x
Hi Alice – have you considered a burka ? Just bought your book so thought I’d drop you a line.
Could be worse you know you’ll get better & be pretty again but I’ll always be bald 🙂
Tim. How lovely to hear from you. I hope you like the book. I didn’t try s burqa but i did buy a protege nez in france – a black leather thing you clip into your glasses!! Hope all is well with you and your family.