Holy Moley

Have you ever had something removed by a dermatologist?

Today was my first experience seeing a dermatologist, much less having something removed from my body. I've always had a bunch of freckles and moles and never thought anything of them.... until I met Josh. Josh's mother used to work in a dermatologist's office. He grew up getting regular "mole checks" from a dermatologist to make sure all of his moles are normal. He's got at least a half dozen scars from having things removed (all of which turned out to be ok, but were removed as a precaution). So this got me thinking about my own spots and I decided a couple of them were worth checking out. So months ago I went to the regular primary care doctor and she said - yea they look atypical, you should see a dermatologist.

That brings me to today. I saw the dermatologist and she agreed that those spots (one on the back of each shoulder, and one on the back of my left arm) were not normal. Ick. As expected, she chose to remove one, leave one, and do a punch biopsy of the other. I didn't realize what a punch biopsy was, but apparently they use what is essentially a tiny post-hole-digger and take out a "core sample" of tissue. EW. That required stitches. The best part was that I had no idea it had been done. The PA said "ok, Wendy will numb you and I'll be back in a few minutes." I expected that Wendy was giving me a needle to numb me and then the PA would be doing whatever removal was being done. So Wendy does her thing, and says the PA will be in soon. While I'm laying there (on my stomach), I decided to look over my shoulder to make sure my hair wasn't in the way. What did I see? Definitely a wide open hole where the mole used to be. EW. I was pretty grossed out, but glad to know that it was over with and I felt nothing.

So now I get to wait and hear back from them whether there is anything serious to be worried about. The PA definitely did not like the looks of the one they biopsied. It was on the back of my right shoulder and was kind of pink with a brown rim. She said it looked like it was trying to "de-pigment" itself which is characteristic of some skin cancers and is unusual in someone my age. Blerg. So, yknow, if you have a spare second you could maybe say a little prayer that it's nothing.

Meanwhile, I'm going shoe shopping to make myself feel better :)