As soon as I got home, I informed Chris of the news and told him that I wasn't a big ol' wimp like he was when he passed his kidney stones. Nope, I didn't curl up in a fetal position on the floor and moan and groan! There was nothing to it...piece of cake! Ha! Now, we all know that passing kidney stones is very painful and I know my hubby was in excruciating pain. I think I just got very lucky, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to give him a hard time. :)
Soon thereafter, I had an appointment with a dermatologist for a full body skin exam. There were two reasons I decided to be seen. First of all, skin cancer runs in my family. My mom's brother had melanoma and my brother did, too. My dad and brother have both had the more common skin cancers, as well. Plus, there was a small spot on my lower neck/upper chest area that was red and just looked a little "funny". It popped up out of nowhere a few months ago, but never healed or went away, so I thought it might be wise to have it checked.
Now, when they say full body exam, that's exactly what it is....from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. I told him about the spot on my neck and he, immediately, told me that he wanted to biopsy it for possible basal cell carcinoma. It took me a little off-guard. He had me flip over on my stomach and he found a mole on my back that he said was suspicious for melanoma, so he biopsied it, too. He just gave me a shot in both areas and scraped each one down for the cells to be sent off and examined. He, also, burned off three precancerous spots on my hand and arm. I now realize more than ever that those years of using baby oil and iodine to tan when I was a teenager were not smart and I'm now paying the price.
It took about a week for the pathology report to come in. The mole on my back came back as benign...what a huge load off my shoulders! He did say it was an atypical mole, but that it was a mild case and that most people have, at least, one in their lifetimes, so it just needs to be checked periodically. The spot on my neck came back as basal cell carcinoma. It really wasn't too much of a shock, but just hearing the word 'cancer' is a little daunting. I was worried that I might have to have Mohs surgery, but I found out on Monday that all I need to have done is have it scraped down a little more. The doc told me that I need to have a full body exam every year, which I will be diligent about. Have you ever been checked?
Not to gross you out or anything, but here's what basal cell carcinoma can look like. See how it might be easy to overlook? I'm now an advocate for skin cancer awareness.
Hope you are staying warm wherever you are! In our area, they're closing down schools in nearly all the surrounding areas today, with the exception of ours, due to the inclement weather that's predicted. They've said we could get up to 2"inches of snow and, around here, that's like a blizzard! I'll be interested to see if even a single snowflake falls. Enjoy your day everyone! Big hugs!
