I've been going to the dermatologist for yearly skin checks ever since Dad was diagnosed with melanoma, six years ago. I've had a couple of moles removed in the past, but weren't anything to worry about. A few weeks ago, I went for my annual skin check and the doctor removed a mole off my back (shoulder blade). They did the routine biopsy on it and told me it would be a couple weeks before we heard anything. I called the doctor's office before I left for Dallas to see if they had my results back, but they weren't back yet. When I got home from Dallas and checked the answering machine (that Joel failed to check while I was gone), there were two messages from the doctor's office asking me to call them. Of course, I didn't get the messages until Saturday morning, so I had to wait until Monday to call. By the sound of their voice on the machine, it didn't sound like good news, so I worried about it all weekend.
I called first thing Monday morning, and the nurse told me it wasn't good news, and it was skin cancer. She said that the doctor would talk to me more about it the next day, because they needed me to come in so that the doctor could cut more off to make sure they got all the cancer the first time. She said that it would take about 30 minutes to cut and stitch me up. Of course, when I got off the phone, I had to get on the Internet to start researching and I had a feeling it was melanoma because they were cutting and stitching me. With the other kinds of skin cancer, they usually don't do that, but I still kept my hopes up that it was a less severe type of cancer.
Joel (and Ainsley) went with me the next morning to the doctor. As soon as the doctor walked in, she looked at me and said it was melanoma. My heart sunk. Seriously, melanoma???? She said that we caught it early and that she was sure it was all gone, but they needed to make sure. I had noticed the mole right before I got pregnant, but I was waiting until my annual skin check to have it looked at. Going forward, I won't wait that long. Ainsley filled her diaper right before we walked into the office, so Joel took her into the next room to change her diaper. By the time he came back into the room, the doctor had already numbed my back and had started cutting. Once she was done cutting, she asked Joel if he wanted to see it before she stitched me up. Unfortunately for me, he wanted to see and stood up to look. As soon as he say it, the following came out of his mouth: "Wow, I didn't think you were going to take that much. That's big." So, that made me even more freaked out. Joel counted my stitches the other night, and he counted 15 stitches. Now, that's Joel counting, so I don't know how accurate it is, but I had estimated 20 before he counted.
The doctor called yesterday morning to tell me that the biopsy from Monday morning came back and all the cancer is gone. Yay! Finally some good news! I have to go back every three months for the next year for skin checks and then every year, unless something new comes up that needs looked at before. The doctor told me that I'm more than likely to get it again in my lifetime because I'm so young. I'm glad I caught it early and it wasn't worse. It wasn't near as bad as Dad's was, and I know it's because I (and Joel) are more aware and we both keep an eye on any changes to my skin.
So, it's sunscreen, and lots of it, for me for the rest of my life. I would suggest everyone else lathers up with plenty of sunscreen also. Join me in the pastey leg club, I dare you!
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