Thursday, November 21, 2013

That is Going to Leave a Scar.


I received the following message last week from my dermatologist "please call us back as we need to discuss your biopsy results".  I went in because I had a small rash and Carolynn wanted me to have this spot on my arm looked at that would never go away.  The Doctor went ahead and took a biopsy which really did not alarm me.

We call them back and they inform me the biopsy was positive for skin cancer.  Ironically Carolynn and I were down in Florida celebrating our 20th Anniversary.  Looks like all those years in the Florida sun caught up with me.  I went ahead and scheduled the surgery for the following week.  In hind sight maybe I should have gotten a second opinion?  I went in to get this small section removed and he ends up removing a nice size chunk of my arm.


The procedure was a little harder than I thought it was going to be.  I really do not like needles nor the sight of blood.  If I did I would have stayed in the Pre-med program at the University of South Florida.  I assumed just a small section would be cut off and I would have a stitch or two.  But 10 minutes in I started to get a little concerned.  I kept feeling him tug away at my arm and started to smell burning flesh.  I asked why the smell was and he said he was stopping the bleeding.  When my fingers twitched a couple of times because a nerve had been hit I kind of wished then I would have gotten a second opinion and looked into this skin cancer thing. Did this doctor know what he was doing. Did he know he was messing my clutch hand?  Didn't he know I had a cross race to race this weekend?

Funny thing is I use sunscreen most of the time.  The only time I did not was when I was driving with the windows down and my arm outside the window.  I do not know if this has anything to do with it, but you never know.  I must admit that I am a little concerned about the future.  In talking to a few of my friends it turns that several relatives of theirs died from skin cancer.  I guess I need to keep an eye out and use more sunscreen.  But then again it could be just genetics and I there is nothing I can do.

2 comments:

Tim Greene said...

What is thist sunscreen stuff you speak of? Seriously until I came down with Vitiligo and forced to start using sunblock, I never used the stuff and after seeing your picture I will be paranoid now for the next couple of months.

Hope they got it all. And scars are cool. The more the better...

Carolynn said...

To put his mind at ease and to assure him the doctor didn't just decide to cut on him, I requested a copy of the pathology report which confirmed basal cell carcinoma. Thank goodness he had it taken care of when he did.