Fluorouracil

Anything But Mid is hosted by Amy Edwards and Whitney Stropp. Neither host is a doctor and nothing here is medical advice. Lightly cleaned for readability.

Whitney: I'm Whitney.

Amy: And I'm Amy and you may be in midlife, but you're anything but mid.

Whitney: Woo-hoo.

Amy: Woo!

Whitney: All right. Mid moment?

Amy: Mid moment. I have just a couple of updates about the last show.

Whitney: Yes, do it.

Amy: So number one, we talked about sobriety and I do have to say that I recently listened to Chelsea Handler's latest book, I'll Have What She's Having.

Whitney: Oh, yes.

Amy: And Chelsea drinks and gets high and all the things.

Whitney: Oh yeah. She is the opposite of what we talked about.

Amy: Right. But she's living her best life. I mean, she is Chelsea Handler. But like, maybe it's not right for everyone, I guess is my point.

Whitney: Here's the deal. It is right for everyone. You I cannot believe that there wouldn't be

Amy: Yeah, Chelsea would probably be off the fucking charts if she stopped.

Whitney: Everyone would feel better if they stopped drinking. But is everyone's lives ruined? You know, I mean like, no.

Amy: Great point.

Whitney: Chelsea is living a great life. Could her life be even better? Probably. Or maybe she wouldn't be funny anymore. Maybe she wouldn't be funny anymore and then she wouldn't have any funny stories. I don't know. But that's the whole reason why we say at the end that we do what we want. Like, we're going to give you the information and we're going to share our experiences and then we're all going to go and fucking do what we want.

Amy: Way to bring it back around, girl.

Whitney: Thank you, thank you.

Amy: Thank you. Okay, the other thing I want to bring up, I want to ask you that I was thinking about, that I made a note of is laundry detergent. You know that can have a lot of hormone disruptors?

Whitney: Oh yeah.

Amy: Yes. And I'm curious what laundry detergent you use because I subscribe to a healthy, eco-friendly one, Tru Earth.

Whitney: Oh, okay.

Amy: So it's supposed to be better. But anyway, I do, but I I still buy Tide Pods and I mix them in.

Whitney: Well, that is hilarious. So, I think all Tide Free & Gentle, or whatever, is like one of the top actual Yeah. One of the top like good laundry detergents. I didn't know you're going to ask me this so I should probably double-check that with Google, but I think that that's one of the ones that comes up a lot. So, I use that one, but then I love the smell of this Glamorous. It's ridiculously expensive.

Amy: What is it? Glamorous?

Whitney: It's this this this the smell is called Glamorous and I can't think of the name of the

Amy: Does it smell like Le Labo or something?

Whitney: I don't know what that is, but

Amy: What What What is this? It's a

Whitney: It's It's a laundry detergent, but it's super expensive. I can look it up.

Amy: I know, I'm looking it up. Laundry

Whitney: Laundry detergent Glamorous.

Amy: That's the dumbest name.

Whitney: Well, I do smell glamorous. So, I'm sure it's horrible for you.

Amy: I want to smell you.

Whitney: But I put a little Well,

Amy: Diva Glamorous?

Whitney: Yes, Diva. Yeah.

Amy: This is what you use?

Whitney: No, what I use is all free It's so hilarious. The Tide Free & Gentle, whatever. But then I put a little dab of the Glamorous.

Amy: $65.

Whitney: That's for the big one.

Amy: I just this I'll just have to put it in the show notes.

Whitney: That's for the big one, but

Amy: The big one.

Whitney: but yeah, it's it's not cheap and so I just use a capful and put it in there. But it makes your clothes and your sheets smell so glamorous that even my son while he I started doing it while he was still living with me and he started putting it in his like he does his own laundry, but he when he's home, he puts it in there. He loves the way that it smells. Yeah. You just felt I I'm not kidding, you you smell glamorous. You feel glamorous and especially like sheets. Like you get in your your, you know, bedsheets and they smell yummy.

Amy: Wow. So, it just is the Glamorous scent? Or is it a different scent? Okay, they have different scents, but I'm like

Whitney: Uh-huh. No.

Amy: It's Glamorous Diva.

Whitney: I want to know Oh, Diva. Oh, no, that's

Amy: I don't know. Whatever the You said both the names.

Whitney: Diva. Yes, Diva.

Amy: But the name of it What's the name of the actual

Whitney: Tyler.

Amy: Oh. Okay, well then no.

Whitney: Tyler Glamorous Wash Diva.

Amy: Yes, that's what it is.

Whitney: Okay. Fine laundry detergent. I'm holding it up to the cam.

Amy: Nobody can see that. No, they can't.

Whitney: It doesn't matter. Don't judge me. It's ridiculously expensive, but that's why I get the little bottle. I'll tell you.

Amy: I'm I'm interested.

Whitney: I get it on Amazon and I only put a capful in per so it lasts a long time. But it smells so delicious that I just I can't stop. So, I'm sure that it's horrible and it has all kinds of shit in it, but I do what I want.

Amy: Yeah, you do.

Whitney: And this is what I want. I want to smell like a glamorous Diva.

Amy: A mix of fruits, florals, chocolate, and amber. That's what it says it smells like.

Whitney: Sure. I should I I I will take these pajamas home and wash them myself in the Glamorous and bring it back to you.

Amy: Okay. Okay, well just saying, I need to wash them cuz something stinks. Yeah, that's not

Whitney: She's talking about herself, not

Amy: Yeah. Well, I used natural deodorants and they aren't very good.

Whitney: Oh, I know. Okay, so I I mentioned that I've got on this membership subscription thing because my friend was selling them or whatever. She's part of something and and I have to buy this subscription. Anyway, whatever. And then you go in

Amy: Okay. How many things do you subscribe to?

Whitney: Oh girl.

Amy: Do you tally You got to add those up. You are you

Whitney: Before Hunter died, we would have a budget meeting every Sunday and he

Amy: Oh, that's way too often.

Whitney: Oh, it was brutal. He would take a red pen and circle things and it got to a point where I was like, I was drinking the entire budget meeting. I would come in with my wine. But then I would make jokes cuz I'm like, "You're not my teacher, dude. Like don't" But he's like, "I'm only circling it because so that I'll know to remember to talk about it." Anyway, but he would go through all of our had an elaborate spreadsheet budget that I would have to put the receipts into, like what I spent and put it in the right line item, all this stuff.

Amy: Fuck that. Fuck that.

Whitney: And and then he would take the credit card statement and go against the spreadsheet and make sure that everything was there. Right?

Amy: I would lose my mind.

Whitney: But what Well, it's how I grew up since like literally Yes, for years I was traumatized after he died because I was trying to maintain that budget and then

Amy: Are you traumatized? And then suddenly you're like

Whitney: And then suddenly I'm like, "Wait. He's dead. I don't have to do this anymore." So, yes, I have subscribed to many things and if Hunter were alive, he would have circled them in red and we would have gotten rid of them because it's overlapping or overdoing.

Amy: I'm going to give you a big pass.

Whitney: But, you know, dead husband, lots of subscriptions. But even like media subscriptions, like do we really need all of them? Like I'm on all of them. You know?

Amy: All all the

Whitney: All the things, and I don't I never go to HBO Max, I'm barely on Prime Video, I'm I It's really Hulu and Netflix are the two that I do, but I've got Apple and I've got Paramount Plus, and I've got all the things.

Amy: NBC. I've got them all.

Whitney: I've got them all.

Amy: We've got them all because sometimes you want to watch that one specific thing that's only on

Whitney: I don't want to be left out if some new show is on. I need to be a part of it.

Amy: I know, it's terrible. I spend way more than I did on cable. It's awful.

Whitney: Yeah. So, I do what I want and I also have a dead husband, so I've gone in the opposite direction than I was doing with him.

Amy: Yeah. Well, so we we keep a cash flow statement. I keep it because I like to just know.

Whitney: Oh. What does that mean?

Amy: It just means I know It's It's not really a budget, but it just means I know what's coming in, what's going out.

Whitney: My Just FYI, my Glamorous is only $26. Okay. But it's it's a small small bottle.

Amy: Okay. Okay. Well, I want to put that link in the notes, okay? And then one capful does the trick, which I like.

Whitney: Okay. I'm not using it to clean, it's just for the scent.

Amy: I like that.

Whitney: So yeah, I've got the all Free & Clear and then I toss in some toxins.

Amy: I wonder if it's a hormone or endocrine disruptor, that'll be because like

Whitney: Well, my son doesn't have breasts, so.

Amy: Oh. Well, all right. That that you know of.

Whitney: Does that mean it's fine? Not that I know of.

Amy: What was I about to talk about?

Whitney: poop. Sorry, I went off on the No, we were talking about um

Amy: What were we talking about?

Whitney: I don't fucking know. Anyway, okay. Well, the Was there something else that you wanted to discuss on the So, all right. So, Chelsea Handler we talked about

Amy: That was it.

Whitney: And then I don't know.

Amy: Great. Great.

Whitney: All right. Well, guess what we're talking about today. Cancer cream. Yay!

Amy: I don't know anything about this, but you wanted to do it, so here we are.

Whitney: Well, because skin is a big part of wellness. I mean, if you think about it,

Amy: It's your biggest organ.

Whitney: It's your biggest organ and even now, like I have such dry skin and I just slap on a bunch of stuff. I need to really start thinking about what's in those lotions, even though they're dermatologist recommended, I think there's stuff in there.

Amy: For sure the For sure they are.

Whitney: And and I'm not and I'm not thinking about it. Anyway, so that's just a side note. But so because I have very fair, freckled skin, I have gone to the dermatologist not since the day I was born, but You know, once it became a thing, like kids weren't going to the dermatologist back in the 70s. We were you know, and in the 80s, we're lathering up Even me, baby oil, laying out in the front yard. I even went on a tanning bed like the dumb

Amy: Might as well. Wow, yeah.

Whitney: Why? Why was I in a tanning bed?

Amy: No, you shouldn't have been.

Whitney: But I wanted to be like everybody else.

Amy: I did. I have so much skin damage. Fried myself and

Whitney: Yes. Yes. So, now it's the age

Amy: And like in my 20s, I was telling Elizabeth I'll I'll just I'm I mean, Elizabeth is Elizabeth, yes. Yeah, so I was telling Elizabeth one day, I was like, "Oh my gosh, I started using 15. 15."

Whitney: Oh man, no.

Amy: When I went to Mexico when I was like in my early 20s, she was like She was aghast. She was like, "No, I'm not using 15." I mean, cuz like growing up, my mom would put

Whitney: Yeah. She wanted to put zero. Yeah. Not that she was horrified that you weren't using 50.

Amy: Straight oil. Oh no, no, no. No, no, no, no, quite the opposite. Cuz growing up, my mom if she was covering me in sunscreen, it was four. Coppertone 4.

Whitney: Right. Oh yeah, no. Because

Amy: Maybe eight.

Whitney: my fair skin, I was the kid on the beach with a visor and zinc oxide, white zinc oxide covering my whole face.

Amy: Wow. Wow. Yeah, you were.

Whitney: Yeah. So, that it actually helped my face now, like all that damage that was done is now starting to pop up. in at our in our age.

Amy: Yeah, it does. It does and like I I keep sunscreen in my car and I put it on my hands every time I get in the car. I bought it for both my children cuz I'm like just I use the really nice like Supergoop! PLAY or whatever it is, and like I just I just it's my habit. I cannot put my hands on the steering wheel without it on.

Whitney: I bought driving gloves.

Amy: Smart. No, I've known women who have and like

Whitney: But I never put them on. Like that's the problem. I know. I got to actually use them for them to work.

Amy: That's amazing. Oh, well you got to you got to use them.

Whitney: Did you subscribe to new driving gloves? I get a new pair every month. No. So, and you're right. Your hands, my hands, my chest, my face actually has done pretty well because of all that zinc oxide back in the day and then just lasers and stuff throughout the years. But but in this certain age range, things are popping up. So, I wanted to talk about the cancer cream that I've been using, but then also kind of go through

Amy: Is that what it's called?

Whitney: No, it's called I like to call it FU, but it's actually called flora

Amy: Oh, yeah.

Whitney: Fluorouracil.

Amy: Yeah, I wrote this down. Fluorouracil.

Whitney: Flour-our-o-cil. Fluorouracil.

Amy: FU. Fluorouracil.

Whitney: It's called FU. Okay. I That's what I call it, 5-FU. But it's like a But it's I also refer to it as the zombie cream because it literally creates um blisters on the skin. So, I I cannot use it on my face because it will be horrifying. You will literally look like a zombie.

Amy: It sounds awful.

Whitney: It's really not good. So, I so

Amy: And I'm assuming when you're using it, you have to stay completely out of the sun.

Whitney: Yes, which is why I bought the driving

Amy: Yeah, good idea if you're using it on your hands. Good idea.

Whitney: gloves. Yes. So, the way that the cream works, you have to get it from your dermatologist and it's the cheapest route to go when dealing with precancerous cells. So, I don't want to get everything cut off of me.

Amy: How do you know it's precancerous?

Whitney: Well, the dermatologist so here's

Amy: They look at you and

Whitney: Here's the deal. Yes, so so the way my skin is now, things will pop up and when I I go to the dermatologist twice a year, sometimes more, like

Amy: I go like once a year.

Whitney: Sometimes I'm going every 3 months, depending on what my skin is looking like. So, she'll do a a scan, you know, skin scan with her eyes, not with anything. And and

Amy: Yeah. Okay. Sometimes they pull out some sort of little

Whitney: Yeah, yeah. A monocle.

Amy: Yeah, a monocle.

Whitney: But it's like a telescope, a monoscope. Anyway, I don't know.

Amy: Funny, my daughter only has one bad eye and I was like, "Can't we just get you a monocle?" Like

Amy: We were at the eye doctor and they were like Like, "Gigi, you need a monocle." Like and then I showed her Heathers. Do you remember in Heathers when Winona Ryder uses them Anyway.

Amy: That is hilarious. I digress.

Whitney: It is hilarious. So, I go So, they go and they look at your skin, and if there's any irregular things, they'll say, "Oh, well we can it can either be non-cancerous, it doesn't look weird," and they just know because they're doctors. And that's like starts with an S, like sub whatever, but it's just not it's benign, it's non-cancerous. Those are the things you get frozen off. Have you ever had anything frozen?

Amy: Okay. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like I have somewhere along the way.

Whitney: Yeah. So, those are the things that get frozen off. The next thing is precancerous. It's looking weird. We may want to biopsy it and and see what it is. Well, then they're cutting into me, right? And I've had that a couple of times. I should have like

Amy: Like, can I just say it took me a while to understand that skin cancer actually can lead to blood cancer and bone cancer? Like it goes down into your body and then it's

Whitney: Yeah. Oh, you can die from skin cancer.

Amy: Oh, yes, a million percent.

Whitney: Well, look at Teddi Mellencamp. Do you know you know Teddi Mellie Teddi Mellie? Tellie Mellie? Teddi Mellie? Teddi Mellencamp. So, John Cougar Mellencamp, his daughter was a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills.

Amy: No.

Whitney: And she is dealing with severe cancer issues because she had something on her back

Amy: No.

Whitney: and it was skin cancer and she You don't see your back, you don't know. So, if you're not going to the dermatologist,

Amy: Oh, my gosh. Oh, shit.

Whitney: then things can happen and you don't know.

Amy: And so, what happened?

Whitney: It's not good. You should follow her on Instagram.

Amy: What do you mean it's not good? Give me more information.

Whitney: Stage 4 now. Like, by the time they caught it, they cut it out, she's got this horrific like scar across her back and it it's been a whole journey. A lot of people know about it that followed her on The Housewives.

Amy: Did it go deeper or like

Whitney: Yeah, no, it's not good. Like, she's she's fighting hard. Yeah. I don't know how it's going to end.

Amy: How old is she?

Whitney: Younger than us, in her 40s.

Amy: Fuck.

Whitney: Anyway, so yeah. Checks are important and once a year if you don't have But you have that olive skin and stuff. Still check, though.

Amy: You think I have olive skin, but I'm actually quite pale. I'm pale and hairy.

Whitney: You wouldn't know. And proud of it.

Amy: Not really.

Whitney: Anyway, so I'm I'm lucky, right? Because my skin forces me to go in and get checked all the time. They say, like, you've got to go in.

Amy: Yeah, yeah, you are. Actually. Yeah.

Whitney: So, I'm not going to be the person that doesn't know about something on the back.

Amy: Yeah. And I feel like men really don't, like, and like, I I actually have a friend who died from skin cancer. He and actually, I think I know two men and like that it's like it's for real.

Whitney: Yeah. And you know, they need to check in your scalp, like because think about it.

Amy: I mean, look at Justin, yes.

Whitney: Yeah, your hair, your scalp is in the on in the sun all day long, so yeah, it's no joke. So, so I go in and they're cutting things out, and it leaves like a little scar and stuff and I'm like, "I don't like this. What can we do?" I go, "What can I do to get to these things before they pop up and have to be cut out? Like what are my options?"

Amy: Do you have scars? Like

Whitney: Well, I was just trying to find one. I do have some scars, but now I can't remember where they are.

Amy: of things that were cut out? Okay, wow.

Whitney: Yeah, I feel like

Amy: Shit, that sucks. Okay. No, that's a good question though, right? Because like, come on, let's nip this

Whitney: Well,

Amy: shit in more of the bud.

Whitney: let's not nip it. Let's do something besides nipping it or cutting it.

Amy: Don't even grow the bud.

Whitney: Yeah. Forget Let's Let's kill the bud before it comes to the surface.

Amy: Perfect.

Whitney: So, there are several ways you can do that. The more expensive ways are the lasers,

Amy: Mm.

Whitney: right? Like the CO2 laser, have you heard of that?

Amy: That's pretty That's pretty severe, right? That's

Whitney: Oh, it's intense. Actually, I'll tell you.

Amy: I got a spot on my arm.

Whitney: It's for severe It's It's the highest resurf What is wrong with my mouth today?

Amy: Did you get a lip flip?

Whitney: No. I'm not doing that anymore because a friend saw me. She hadn't seen me in forever and she goes, "What did you do to your mouth?" And I go, "Nothing."

Amy: She sucks, first of all.

Whitney: But you know, you got to be careful. You don't want to look different than you've always looked.

Amy: Did it What did you Really?

Whitney: Yeah, so I stopped doing it.

Amy: What? Oh.

Whitney: But you didn't even notice that I stopped.

Amy: No, and sometimes people need to talk.

Whitney: But I just don't have a I have I have a very thin lip. Anyway. Anyway, back to the CO2 laser. It's the highest resurfacing laser. It's an ablative laser that vaporizes damaged skin layers. But it is intense and and it is expensive. It's like 3 grand here in Austin to get it done. And then that is a lot of down time. And I love the benefits

Amy: Your face is burned off.

Whitney: Yeah, pretty much. It's going down into deep layers and it is a severe burn, but it creates a clean slate. So, people who have done it, they they say it's incredible. I want to do it, but I don't want the down time for a month of looking like a burn victim and I don't want the pain of it and I don't want the financial part of it, like it's

Amy: These are a lot of drawbacks.

Whitney: all those things. But people who get it done, it's it's like a facelift almost. I mean, it it's incredible.

Amy: Yeah, it is.

Whitney: I know. So, I'm not opposed to it 100%, but I got to cancel some subscriptions first. So, anyway, so there's the cryotherapy where they just freeze things off. That's non-bi That's non-binary.

Amy: I don't know.

Whitney: I was about to say non-binary. Those are the benign things. Then the precancerous stuff, they have to cut it out. There's Once it comes to the surface, there's no freezing it, cuz you have to get all the skin. You got to make sure

Amy: Comes to the surface, so it was below?

Whitney: Yeah, think about it. Layer upon layer upon layer of skin. So, haven't you ever done those um that little light, that black light on your face and it shows all the underneath skin damage that has hasn't popped up yet? Okay. It's frightening.

Amy: Yes. Actually, yes I have. Yes, I have.

Whitney: It is.

Amy: Talk about sobering.

Whitney: Frightening. Yeah.

Amy: It is, really is.

Whitney: That'll sober you up real quick.

Amy: make you want to drink. Yeah.

Whitney: So, all that stuff is underneath and as your layers are exfoliated off, they're it's coming up. So, by the time that that spot, that mole, that whatever growth, lesion comes up, there's nothing that you can do except cut it out. I believe. Again, I'm not a doctor. Oh yeah, again this is not medical advice.

Amy: There's no I've never been given another option. It's like, you got to cut it out. And sometimes it's just an easy cut out and sometimes you have to do this thing called Mohs Mohs surgery, which basically is they go in, they cut it out. They you stay in the room, they take it out to a microscope, make sure that they got all the edges that the edges are clean and if they're not, they come back in and dig more. Oh, yeah. The margins.

Whitney: I don't want any of that. I don't want to get to that point. So, I asked what to do. It's these lasers or the cream. The cream is the least expensive. I think it's covered by insurance, whereas those lasers are not covered by insurance for the most part. And um and so it's just a It's an inexpensive way to handle it. But it is not fun.

Amy: Tell me.

Whitney: First of all, you put it on you put it on for about 2 weeks. I did it on my hands. I'm supposed to do it on my chest and I'm just haven't done it yet because I just

Amy: It's going to hurt.

Whitney: It's going to hurt and it hurts for a while. And then I can't wear even these pajamas. Like it'll you'll see all this zombie

Amy: You've just got to rock it. You've just got to like not care.

Whitney: Just own it and be like,

Amy: Yes, and be like, "That's right. Glad you asked."

Whitney: "Glad you asked." You know what? I'm so stupid. I should have done it in October and then it could have been like a costume.

Amy: Perfect. It's your zombie costume.

Whitney: Damn it. Could have been a zombie all of October. I didn't think about it.

Amy: That would have been perfect.

Whitney: Well, it's too late now. Can I be a zombie turkey? Thanksgiving zombie?

Amy: Yeah. You could be a zombie Santa's elf. That's right.

Whitney: Yes. So, you put it on and normally you start to see some stuff bubbling up in about a week. I didn't see anything happening for 2 weeks. And by the way, I'm putting it on and I'm using both of my hands to rub it in cuz I don't want it's toxic. And you have to be careful

Amy: You don't want Wow.

Whitney: with your animals, like you can't touch your animals, they could die from it. Like it's toxic.

Amy: Oh my gosh. That is intense.

Whitney: I know. Wow. And I read that online. So, I don't know if it's true, but I think it's true. I mean, it's pulling up cancerous cells and killing them. So, it's it's

Amy: What is in it?

Whitney: it's real. This FU stuff.

Amy: Yeah, but what Fluorouracil. What is it?

Whitney: It's cream, cancer cream.

Amy: I don't know. It's cancer cream. Who knows?

Whitney: Who knows? So, about 2 weeks in I was like, "This isn't working. I must not be putting enough on." Like nothing was coming up, so I I got a little more and literally Yes, and Well, I just put more of a cover of the cream on. And by the way, I do this at night. I know. I would do it at night and then I get in my bed and I like to cover my eyes with my hand. That's another reason why I bought those driving gloves, because I was like,

Amy: You just slapped It's a lot.

Whitney: "I'm going to blind myself." Yes, I had to. I was like so afraid I was going to blind myself with them. So, you just have to be very careful. It's it's real.

Amy: Cuz that would affect your sleep. Oh my god.

Whitney: Well, what else am I supposed to do? Like I I don't know. Anyway, so after about 2 and 1/2 weeks, all this stuff comes up. And so for another week and a half, you've literally got oozing And part of it is

Amy: Oozing?

Whitney: Well, they're blisters. They're blisters. Like not blisters, they're like scabby blisters, not like water blisters. Oh, it is the real deal. And so then you're hiding your hands from that and you can't keep can't get it in the sun. But but now you can still see like a little bit of where the red is still healing and this is like a month later.

Amy: Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Whitney: So, and I could probably do it again and more stuff would come up.

Amy: Hold on, I'm going to take a picture right now to insert into this episode. Let's see. Like

Whitney: That's right. This is actually good. But this is a month later.

Amy: my new phone. Wow. Let me get a little closer on this one. Wow.

Whitney: Get a little closer. But it's the most cost-effective way to do it and you have a little bit more control rather than the laser, you get blasted and then you go home and it's all-out war.

Amy: It's on. It's war on your everything.

Whitney: Yes, exactly. So, this is what I chose to do for my hands. I'm I guess I'm just going to embrace it. This is not the first time I've done it.

Amy: So, this is That's what I'm asking. Is this your first round? Like, what happened with the Did they look back at it after your first round and go like, "Oh, by god, you made progress. It's great."

Whitney: I did No, I didn't have to go back to the Like I said, "Do I need to come back?" like and she was like, "No, you're good." Like they don't, you know, they're not worried about anything happening.

Amy: But they're not going to check and be like, "Success."

Whitney: Nothing No, because nothing was

Amy: Nothing was showing.

Whitney: Right. Nothing was on my hands to say, "Oh, once it comes to the surface, you've got to cut it. There's no using a cream." So, like that's why these lasers and this cream are really nice because they're getting it before it becomes It's still precancerous and they're getting it before it comes to the surface. I just didn't want to have all these cuts all over myself. I literally should be lathering my entire body in this cream. But she even said, "Oh, use it on your arms." Can you imagine? It was painful on my hands and, look,

Amy: Is it only you're having to wash your hand, I mean you're using your hands all day, so. Is it painful on the spots that are coming up only but or it hurts your whole hand no matter what?

Whitney: It hurts. I should have taken a picture of my hand. Like you can pull it up online. You should you should pull up like

Amy: Before and after?

Whitney: yeah, Fluorouracil Yeah, right. You can just type in cancer cream

Amy: Cancer cream

Whitney: images. People put this on their face

Amy: Images. I don't like It is intense. Are you seeing some? Let me see. I don't like this.

Whitney: Yes. Now, look the the woman with just not all that red, but like up here, that's more of like what I tend to do. It's not full A lot of it depends on how much damage is has been done. And if you've never had anything taken care of before, then you're probably going to have an intense

Amy: Oh, my god.

Whitney: Let me see.

Amy: You guys do this to your Oh, I've had this cream before for something.

Whitney: Oh. Well, it's for precancer.

Amy: I know this. Why did I have it? I know this cream.

Whitney: Yeah, it's scabby.

Amy: I don't know what I had it for. Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

Whitney: It's chemo It's topical chemotherapy. That's what it is. It's topical chemotherapy.

Amy: Oh my god. Like I've had this. Why? Why did I have it?

Whitney: You probably had something, I mean, obviously.

Amy: I guess so, but I have some so I can use it Look, I have this one spot here. If you already see a spot,

Whitney: It It's not going to do anything to that. It's pulling up It's pulling up

Amy: Yeah, I have these random mystery spots.

Whitney: By the way, it's it it it's a compound cream, I think, or it's a cream that they mix up and they told me when when they called to tell me it was ready, they were like, "You need to use this as soon as possible because it decreases in its in its um intensity or whatever if you, you know So,

Amy: Oh, it will expire? Oh, great.

Amy: I should throw mine away.

Whitney: Yeah, yours is no longer good.

Amy: Yeah, these pictures are

Whitney: They're intense and that's why I don't want to do it on my face or my chest, because my hands did hurt.

Amy: I'm I feel tiny bit nauseous. Looking at those pictures.

Whitney: I know. Well,

Amy: I can't tell you how much I Google when I listen to podcasts. I'm always like pulling things up, pulling things up. So, if anybody wants I searched what cancer cream images.

Whitney: Oh, yeah. Putting pause, and yeah. All you have to type in is cancer cream, yeah. And it comes up.

Amy: Oh, my god, guys. Whoa.

Whitney: But the down time You know, the the the the cons are the down time as far as it takes like a month for those scabs to go away, right? And and and it's painful and mine wasn't that intense. Like other people might have an even stronger reaction because they have never done anything.

Amy: Right. Right.

Whitney: I've done lasers and stuff, so, you know, pulled up a lot of stuff already. But the cost is great, less than and usually covered by insurance. My insurance sucks, so I think I had to pay $95.

Amy: So, it's not going to get rid of all your freckles or anything like that. Like, it's just doing the

Whitney: No, it's true. It's only It's

Amy: the lower damaged.

Whitney: It's doing the It's destroying rapidly growing damaged cells, so it's it's targeting the precancerous cells that are rapidly growing.

Amy: Wow. Right.

Whitney: So yeah, no, that's the other good thing is like it's not going to get rid of all of my freckles. I'll still have those. It's all the cancerous cells or precancerous cells.

Amy: Right. Right. This is wild.

Whitney: So, it's a it's a good cheap option, especially for little areas like your hands. It gets more intense if you're doing your chest because that's a larger area. I'm scared to do it and then I thought, "Oh, maybe I'll just do half my chest." But then that means I got to do the other half and

Amy: It looks like CO2 resurfacing. Like that's what's tripping me out.

Whitney: But it's different. I don't Is the CO2 resurfacing create those scabs? I don't know. I don't think so.

Amy: It might though.

Whitney: I don't know either.

Amy: I have a friend who did it. I'll have to maybe ask.

Whitney: I did I yeah. I had a friend that did it and they said 100% it's worth it. So, whatever the down time was, whatever it had had you know, whatever it did,

Amy: Oh, wow. Wow.

Whitney: it was worth it. Anyway, so the cream is the the the option that's the least expensive. So, that's what I did. But you can do, you know, IPLs, which none of the nothing is as intense as the CO2 laser or the cream.

Amy: I've had IPLs all over my chest, my face, my whole arms.

Whitney: Yeah. That's not a that's not a huge

Amy: I've done peels, I've done IPLs. I had someone carelessly hit one of my tattoos and scar me.

Whitney: Oh, I never thought about

Amy: I'm still pissed about it.

Whitney: that it would not do well with your tattoos.

Amy: Oh, I had a I had a dermatologist tell me straight up, no more tattoos, and I was like,

Whitney: Why?

Amy: "I'm going to a different dermatologist." And then I got more tattoos.

Whitney: Why? Because Well, I mean let's be honest.

Amy: She felt like she couldn't see

Whitney: Oh, sure.

Amy: clear. Yeah.

Whitney: I never thought of that. Yeah, if you have an arms If you have a sleeve,

Amy: I don't know what you do cuz Justin's got a sleeve, yeah.

Whitney: you know what? My son is working on a sleeve, like he's

Amy: My daughter is, three.

Whitney: and he is his nickname Which son? Who? The middle one, his nickname his friends would call him Highlighter. He's so pale and bright blonde hair. Highlighter. So, I need to tell him maybe it's not a good idea.

Amy: It's not going to matter.

Amy: But there must be somebody that can tell because like, yeah, she, but yeah, I had one tell me straight up,

Whitney: Oh, that's interesting.

Amy: no more, and I was like, "Bye-bye."

Whitney: I do want to get the CO2, but I'm just scared. I'm scared of all of it.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah, I understand.

Whitney: But IPLs are the least like uh the the down time isn't that bad, but it also it's also not doing

Amy: Oh, not at all.

Whitney: that much.

Amy: No, it's not doing as much. And really, that might get rid of your freckles, IPL.

Whitney: It does, as a matter of fact. One one dermatologist

Amy: Cuz that's what I used it for. I used to have very freckly chest actually. I really went on a quest to make it less freckly and then and now I've been in the sun. I've been careless about it, but it really wiped them out.

Whitney: Well, that's the true too. Like, if you get all this work done and on your skin and get it looking great, if you don't protect it with the sunblock, then you're just going to be back where you were.

Amy: Right. That's what I've done.

Whitney: And by the way, the sunblock isn't always great for your skin because it's got chemicals in it. You got to do mineral sunblock. I know, it's so much information.

Amy: I just hang my head because it's like it's so much. It's just so much.

Whitney: Well, you just have to you kind of start going through life thinking everything is bad for you.

Amy: Yeah, yeah.

Whitney: But that's why I got that um

Amy: It's not It's not. It's not.

Whitney: It's not. And we do what we want.

Amy: Oh yeah, we do we do. Let me ask you this. I got to ask you this question. Okay. I forget what this is called. Permanent itch on back and it's like a it's like a thing that you get. It's called notalgia paresthetica.

Whitney: Ooh.

Amy: It's a condition that causes an an itch on your back that won't go away.

Whitney: Does it also form bumps like acne?

Amy: Sometimes.

Whitney: Oh my gosh, I have it.

Amy: Well, I thought you did. You know why?

Whitney: Why?

Amy: Cuz we went to an event together and I saw you scratch your back right where I scratch my back.

Whitney: That is so crazy because every day, I'm like, "I need to look this up," because there's no way that this is just a breakout. It's in the exact same spot and it lasts for weeks if not months, and then it'll go away. And now it's back.

Amy: It It comes and goes. I have it too.

Whitney: What is it?

Amy: I have a permanent itch and it looks like a bruise and it has little bumps.

Whitney: Look, I'm going to show you. Y'all are going to be disgusted by this.

Amy: No, I can't wait to see cuz I wanted to ask you about it.

Whitney: Well, it's I scratch it all the time too. Whoa.

Amy: That was loud. Okay. You I scratch it all the time, but I'm going to tell you what to do. Let's see. Where it Oh, is that it? Yeah, yeah. That's it. It's It's a bump. Okay, so

Whitney: Yeah? It's multiple bumps.

Amy: So, your

Whitney: Is that what it looks like? Is that I mean

Amy: It can look like almost like a patch, like a Mine looks a little more like a brown patch. So, if you if you search it, there's like bumps, but brown patches.

Whitney: And it's in the same spot. It's always in the same spot.

Amy: I was going to ask ChatGPT if there was something like is that where my adrenal glands are or something, or is that kidney-related? Like

Whitney: No. No.

Amy: They don't know what causes it, but I have it too.

Whitney: That is so crazy.

Amy: I saw you scratching and I thought, "I think she has the same thing I have," which is like this one spot. It's usually off-center from your spine and like on one side, and it's like related to some kind of nerve damage and your nerves get confused because itching and nerves and and pain, itching and pain are very closely related because they're an irritant to your nerves. And so,

Whitney: I've been swabbing it with like just like you know,

Amy: I'm going to tell you what I use. So, the other day

Whitney: Oh my gosh, I'm so excited.

Amy: What One of the reasons I was thinking about it was because the other day, I bonked Do you remember when I bonked my knee?

Whitney: Yes. Yes.

Amy: So, it and I was like, "This is weird because it's itching. It's not hurting." And so, I I looked up, "Can bruises itch?" Yes. Bruises can itch when they're healing and really, because of my knee surgery, I have like a massive scar by where this is.

Whitney: What? Yeah.

Amy: My nerves in my right knee are so confused. Like there's spots where I have no feeling, there's other spots and I was like, "Oh, it makes sense that this bruise might itch because my nerves are so confused.

Whitney: Your nerves are confused.

Amy: They're all out of whack because of the the because of the scars and all that." So, I was like, "Huh, interesting." But then I was thinking about this on our back, this notalgia paresthetica.

Whitney: Sounds like a parasite.

Amy: It's not, though. It's a condition characterized by persistent, intense itching and burning sensations in the back, typically on the lower half.

Whitney: It's Yes.

Amy: Mine's a little closer to center, but I've had it for many years till finally I was like, "This has got to be fucking something."

Whitney: I've just started getting it. I literally This is the second time I've gotten it.

Amy: They don't know what causes it. They don't know. It can be herniated discs, muscle spasms, posture, age, age.

Whitney: Well, that sucks.

Amy: Which blows, right? So, intense itching, burning sensations can be worse at night or when lying down, can be accompanied by pain or numbness. Mine gets numb.

Whitney: I wish mine were numb. It bothers me all the time. I thought I'm so glad that you asked me this. Tell me please, how do I get rid of it?

Amy: Well, I asked my dermatologist, that's kind of what reminded me too cuz we're talking about going to the dermatologist. Cuz I was like, "What the hell do I do about this?" And she said there's not much. So, I use a like almost numbing itch-helping, like itch itch-helping? anyway, lotion and I put it on after every shower and I just rub it on my back right in that spot and it's taken away the itch.

Whitney: But here's

Amy: And then it starts to heal.

Whitney: Okay, so you think that the reason I have bumps is because I'm itching there? And so, I'm creating it. I'm creating the bumps.

Amy: It's Well, it's all related. Yeah. If you can stop scratching it, I think your bumps will go away cuz I My bumps are really small and then I scratch so much that it turns like a dark like

Whitney: Yeah. I thought it was some sort of like breakout.

Amy: It's not.

Whitney: And so, then I would like you know, squeeze on it and stuff.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah.

Whitney: And then I was like, "Well, I'm just going to get some of those like Stridex pads and I've been using those." Went away like I had it once before and then it went away, and then it's back.

Amy: That might help, but I'm using a lotion and I want to say it's called Sarna. You just get it at CVS.

Whitney: Text it to me.

Amy: Sarna I'm going to put it in the show notes and I will text it to you too. Sarna lotion. Yeah. And so, that's it. S-A-R-N-A.

Whitney: So, you just started using it?

Amy: No, I use it pretty religiously, but it helps the itching stop.

Whitney: So, it went away? But does it go away?

Amy: It's an anti-itch lotion. I don't know.

Whitney: Because it's not These bumps are not here all the time. Like when I went to the dermatologist,

Amy: There's no cure for this. There's no cure, but I think it can subside.

Whitney: That's so crazy. I hadn't had time to Google it.

Amy: What triggers it? Nerve irritation or compression in the spine. Degenerative changes, arthritis, herniated discs, vertebrae.

Whitney: Okay, I see what you're saying. So, the nerve is getting pinched in the spine and then creating this itching.

Amy: And it's confused. Yep.

Whitney: I wonder if going to the chiropractor would help or I

Amy: I don't do chiropractors.

Whitney: I hang on my son has a like a What are those, pull-up bars or whatever?

Amy: You've mentioned this, yeah.

Whitney: And I hang on it. Cuz I read somewhere that that helps decompress

Amy: It can.

Whitney: your spine.

Amy: Yeah. Maybe that's helping. Maybe that's helping. Maybe use the lotion and do that, and see what happens.

Whitney: All right. I'm going to I'm going to report back to everybody about about my

Amy: Yes. But if anybody is experiencing that, it's like confused nerves. And so, I just use the lotion and it helps a lot. So,

Whitney: I just want the bumps to go away. Like I

Amy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, your bumps are bigger than mine.

Whitney: But yeah, they're Yeah, they're and there's multiple bumps.

Amy: My bumps are very small, but sometimes I'll just touch my bumps and then they're numb.

Whitney: My bumps, my bumps.

Amy: Yeah, my lovely lady bumps.

Whitney: They're not lovely at all.

Amy: Oh, man.

Whitney: Oh God, why? It's like, people also search for notalgia paresthetica, cancer. No, don't look.

Amy: Oh, don't look. Don't look.

Whitney: Parasitic, it doesn't sound good.

Amy: No, paresthetica. No, it's like paralyzing nerves. Like they get numb or whatever. So, I'm not to I have Lidocaine patches. Should I put one on?

Whitney: Yes, maybe.

Amy: Okay. I don't know. We're not doctors.

Amy: Anyway, I don't I don't know. And you know, maybe yours is different than that, but cuz yours didn't look like dark the way mine gets, so whatever.

Whitney: No, mine are red bumps and they I thought that it I'm like breaking out right there, but it's in the same spot. And so, I keep meaning to Google it, but then I've got too many other things to Google.

Whitney: Didn't have time. Check Google this, Google this, Google this. Especially with this podcast, you've got to Google all sorts of stuff all the time. So,

Amy: Yeah. Oh, I'm Googling all the time. So true.

Whitney: All right, well, I just I don't know, skin-related.

Amy: No, thank you. I'm so glad that you mentioned it cuz now

Whitney: It was really funny cuz I saw when we went to that event, I saw you like scratch in the same spot like three times and I was like, "I know that I know that scratch."

Amy: "I know that scratch."

Whitney: That's so

Amy: And so maybe more people have it and don't realize. I actually had someone remark one day and she I don't know who was, maybe it was my ex-mother-in-law or something, and she goes It was years ago, and she goes, "Oh, you have a bruise on your back." And I was like, "Is this discolored?" And I looked at it and I was like, "Oh my god, it looks like I have a bruise."

Whitney: That is crazy.

Amy: And it'll come and go over the years. I've had it for as many years as I can remember.

Whitney: Yeah. Wow, and you just now figured out something to fix it?

Amy: Yeah, cuz it would come and go.

Whitney: Yeah. All right, I'm

Amy: Not messed up?

Whitney: It's so messed up. It's not fair.

Amy: Wonder if your cancer cream would work on it. I don't know.

Whitney: Ooh, no. Don't do that. I'm not going to do that. This is a this is What did I call it? Topical chemotherapy. That's what that is, so I'm not putting that anywhere

Amy: That's intense as fuck. No.

Whitney: except for where

Amy: I can't believe I had it. I'm wondering why.

Whitney: You obviously had some spots.

Amy: I don't know. Dang, I got to look.

Whitney: Maybe your hands, since you're so aware of putting sunblock on your hands.

Amy: I am very aware of my hands because I feel like they age you the most.

Whitney: I know, they're a dead giveaway.

Amy: They are, your neck and your hands. Mine look pretty good.

Whitney: Yours look amazing. Mine, no. Mine, no.

Amy: I have been putting sunscreen on them for years when I drive. I tell my kids

Whitney: I think about doing it and then I forget. And then I bought those gloves and I don't wear them.

Amy: You're forgetful. You know? Okay, anyway.

Whitney: That's okay, I'm here to remind you.

Amy: That's okay, we do what we want. Even if I had all the information, I don't always obviously

Whitney: I know. It's hard. We all have the We have so much information at our fingertips, but it's too much.

Amy: It's too much.

Whitney: At a point, it's too much, so.

Amy: That's why we're here to help you get through it all and we'll tell you what works, what doesn't work.

Whitney: Yep, we're going to do our best to tell you.

Amy: And then you're going to do what you want.

Whitney: And then you're going to do what you want. Email us if you want to, of course, if you want to do that.

Amy: Don't send pictures though.

Whitney: Anything But Mid Don't. Not unless you warn us first.

Whitney: Amy was traumatized.

Amy: I am I I felt I really felt sick. Anything But Mid Podcast at gmail, we want to hear from you. Tell us your mid moment, tell us whatever. Okay, so

Whitney: All right. We do what we want.

Amy: We do.

Whitney: We do.

Amy: We do. You do too.

Whitney: That's right. Have a great one. Have a great one.

Amy: Or don't.