Nearly 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year in America, and almost everyone has been affected by the disease in some way.
That's also true for the NewsChannel 15 family.
Our morning anchor, Jason Claspell, was recently diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, and Wednesday, he had surgery to remove the tumor.
Basal cell carcinoma is a slow-growing form of skin cancer, and according to the American Cancer Society it makes up 75 percent of all skin cancers. Researchers believe it's caused by prolonged exposure to the sun or other ultraviolet radiation.
The cancer often starts out as a skin bump or growth that can be pearly or waxy.
In Jason's case, he said, "It turned into a light pink spot that, after more than a year, started to ulcer."
Jason didn't worry about it until he saw a story ABC did on skin cancer.
Some of the images shown in that story resembled what he had, and he decided to get it checked out.
Basal cell carcinoma has a very high rate of cure if it's caught in the early stages. But left unchecked, it can metastasize to other parts of the body.
"I had two other cancer spots that recently started to grow," Jason said, "Those were easily removed by freezing the spots and killing the cancer."
But in this case, Jason had to undergo Mohs Micrographic Surgery.
Jason explains how the procedure was described to him, "Thin layers of tissue are removed and examined under a microscope for cancer cells. The process is repeated until the tissue is cancer free. The surgery is expected to take anywhere from four to six hours or longer. Doctors say they won't know how much damage the tumor has caused until they get inside and see the extent of its growth."
It's Jason's hope that by sharing his story, someone watching will recognize a similar spot and get it checked out by a doctor so they won't have to go through what he and his family are going through now.
Jason says he loves the beach life, but now understands why protecting your skin from the elements can be a matter of life or death.
Jason is in a lot of pain after the surgery, but everything went well.
He'll be updating us all on his progress as soon as he's able.
We hope to have him back on the air next week.
