Word: reagan
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Promptly removed, basal-cell carcinomas rarely pose a danger. There are several methods for getting rid of them. President Reagan's "pimple," and a similar growth on Nancy Reagan's upper lip in 1982, were excised by a procedure called curettage and electrodesiccation (see diagram) that usually takes five minutes. In this method, the dermatologist applies a local anesthetic and then scrapes away the soft, mushy tumor cells with a curette, an instrument with a sharp circular blade. Afterward, an electrified needle is applied to the area to destroy any remnants of malignancy. In the case of Nixon...
...especially during the peak-intensity hours of midday. For those who cannot resist its lure, doctors urge the use of sunscreens designed to block ultraviolet radiation. People who have already had a basal-cell carcinoma run a 25% risk of developing another and must be especially cautious. Last week Reagan admitted that this advice was "a little heartbreaking ... because all my life I've lived with a coat of tan, dating back to my lifeguard days...
...hand mirror to see one's back and a blow-dryer to examine the scalp. "The ability of people to detect skin cancers is tremendous if they're motivated," observes Dr. Robert Friedman of N.Y.U. Indeed, many newly motivated Americans went scurrying to dermatologists last week, just as Reagan's colon cancer sent them to gastroenterologists. "We had five patients walk in off the streets who identified their own basal-cell carcinomas," says Friedman. "Four of them were right." --By Claudia Wallis. Reported by Christine Gorman/New York
Shortly after Ronald Reagan cleared up the confusion about his skin cancer last week, several reporters laced into White House Spokesman Larry Speakes for being less than candid the week before, when he declined to say whether a biopsy had been performed. "You pulled an iron curtain down on the truth," said U.P.I. Correspondent Helen Thomas at a tense briefing. "Exactly right," replied Speakes. "But I did not lie. And I told the truth...
...incident illustrates the sometimes impossible task Speakes faces in balancing the questions of a properly inquisitive press against the wishes of the First Family. Though Speakes initially had replied "sure" to a journalist's query about whether a biopsy would be done, Nancy Reagan remained adamant that as little as possible be released about the operation. Speakes, backed by White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan, tried to persuade her to be more forthcoming, but to no avail. After Mrs. Reagan received preliminary findings of the biopsy, she decided to wait and tell her husband the next day, when...