So I Got a Phone Call Yesterday…

I knew who it was when I saw the number, even though I’d only called it once – to set up my first appointment with a dermatologist. I figured they were calling to tell me all was well with the mole I’d had removed about a week ago. I mean, I’ve always been what I call a shade seeker. Being in the sun is not something I’ve ever enjoyed. I also don’t like the way sunscreen feels on my skin, so I don’t wear it. Why would I, avoiding the sun all the time?

Of course,  you know where this is going, right? And you’ll probably understand when I realized where it was going, I wanted to slap my hands over my ears or hang up on the woman.

As she said there were cancer cells on one side, I waited for that knot of fear to form in my stomach. The kind where it’s hard to breathe. Where your skin feels all prickly, and you think you might throw up.

But it didn’t come. Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared.  And I’m still not. What I am is very blessed.

I know I’ve alluded to what a long and horrible year 2019 was. Seriously, I’m not exaggerating when I say I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see the end of a three-hundred and sixty-five day period. 

There was one good thing did come of it though. I decided I needed to see a doctor again. I knew that after more than five years, I needed to get treated for hypothyroidism again. I was exhausted long before everything happened, but after? Holy Moses… I could barely function. So I made it my mission to get medical coverage.

Then I figured, I might as well have an annoying mole by my eye removed. And I did … two weeks after I started back on the medicine. I wasn’t worried. The doctor wasn’t worried. She was probably more surprised than I was to find out there really was a reason to worry.

What if 2019 hadn’t been such an awful year? What if I hadn’t decided I couldn’t successfully treat my thyroid with supplements alone? Who knows how long I would have waited to have that mole removed? Would the skin cancer have been caught early enough? 

From what I’ve read, in rare cases, people can die from it. It would have been more likely to have caused worse scarring though. And right on my face? 

Yeah. I definitely feel blessed. If anyone would have asked my opinion, I’d have been skeptical that much good can come from bad. But in this case, it did.

I’m also glad that my dermatologist has decided that since it is so close to my eye, I need to see a plastic surgeon.

You all know by now that I have a ‘different’ sense of humor so it won’t surprised you when I say I’ve thought about asking the surgeon if he could do something about making me look a little more like Sandra Bullock, but honestly? Walking away with minimal scarring will work for me.

It also shouldn’t surprise you when I say that I laughed until I almost cried when I turned on my computer – to find that yesterday was World Cancer Day. Really, what are the odds that I’d get that phone call on that day?  I didn’t even know there was a world cancer day until yesterday.

Anyway, on a more serious note, I want to add this. Just because something looks like it should be okay doesn’t mean it is. I’m definitely getting a few more moles checked. And it’s scared my son into deciding he wants his checked too. I hope my experience will encourage all of you to do the same.

Photo credit: Pixabay

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6 Responses to So I Got a Phone Call Yesterday…

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  3. I worried that you were going to say something like this when I saw the title of the post. 🙁 I hope since they found it when they did that you’ll be alright. I also hope the other moles don’t have any problems with them.

    • Kristy K. James says:

      Thank you. 🙂 According to whoever called from the doctor’s office, the results indicate that once I see the plastic surgeon (and only him because of the nearness to my eye – to minimize scarring), I’ll be fine. I don’t think I’d have posted anything about it if she hadn’t acted like it wasn’t much different than an ingrown toenail. But I’m with you and hoping the rest of them are fine too, or at least no worse than this one.

  4. Eek! Suddenly feeling like I should schedule my own Dr appt.

    • Kristy K. James says:

      It wouldn’t be a bad idea, that’s for sure. There are much worse skin cancers than what I have, and early detection would be very helpful in those cases. 🙂

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