Monday, September 27, 2010
I haven't said anything, but for the past 2 weeks, I have been very nervous!!! Two weeks ago today, I had a mole surgically removed from my neck. Being a child of the "60's", I admit to being a sun worshipper. Back then, we did NOT know how dangerous it was to be in the sun without protection. In fact, we often put on baby oil and laid on aluminum sheets in order to get even more reflective rays!!! I know, I know, how stupid.......right? We just didn't know!!! Anyway, I decided about a month ago to go to a dermatologist because there were a couple of areas that concerned me. During the examination, the doctor just glanced at those areas and didn't seem concerned at all. Then he zeroed in on the mole on my neck that I hadn't even thought about. He looked at it from every angle, measured it, and then said that he felt that it was "suspicious" and that he wanted to remove it and have it biopsied. He showed me a list of 7 criteria that indicate a possible melanoma, and this mole had 4 of the 7. I have heard enough about melanoma to know how dangerous it can be, so I was very nervous. Today was the day that I had my stitches taken out, and also the day that I found out that it looks good............that it isn't melanoma, but that we will still keep an eye on that area and will have it looked at again in 3 months. Whew!!!!! So far, so good!!!