Thankful for a Persistent Wife!
by Henry
(Miami, FL, USA)
Whether you call it nagging or persistence, I'm thankful for a wife who forced me to finally visit the dermatologist a few years ago after she spotted an irregular mole on my back.
The dermatologist removed it for biopsy, along with several others, and I figured it would all come back normal. After a few days, I received a call from their office stating that the mole was being sent for further pathology. I still thought nothing of it.
When they called me back a few days later, the nurse's tone was somber. They had found Malignant Melanoma on my back, and they wanted to schedule me for surgery immediately.
Having never had surgery or even much more than a cold for that matter, I was nervous. They set me up for a consultation with a plastic surgeon, and I worried my way through a few days until the appointment.
The Skin Cancer Surgeon was great and explained that the cancer had been caught early enough that it was still very topical and had probably been completely removed through the biopsy alone. However, they always remove a greater area as a general rule.
This put me at ease immediately. A few days later, I was at the hospital having a patch of skin removed under local anesthetic, and I never needed more than a few Tylenol to get through the pain.
All in all, my experience was a breeze. However, I'm very aware of two things.
First, I'm very lucky to have found it early, and thankful for my wife pointing out a mole that I would never have even seen on my own.
Second, that will probably not be the last time I go under the knife for skin cancer.
Although I'm careful about my sun exposure now, I was not so during my youth. Having a Sunburn was just part of growing up.
So, I now visit the dermatologist every six months, and I have yet to have a visit without a biopsy. It's a minor inconvenience, but something that I'm happy to do if it early detection keeps me from becoming a victim of Skin Cancer Melanoma.
Melanoma Skin Cancer
Malignant Melanoma Skin Cancer
Skin Cancer Moles
