and i mean that literally. today was both a day for good news for me as a woman, and a day for bad news for me as a whitey.
the good news is #1 my BP was fine even with the fact that i just learned the bad news (described below), and also that we now have a due date for baby #2. december 18th is the special day accd to my cycle, and december 24th is the day accd to the ultrasound. so, that week then, we can expect a new little baby!
between now and end of july, we have to decide whether or not we want to find out the gender during our second (and last) ultrasound. this time it is nathaniel's decision!
the bad news is that i got a call from the dermatologist today to tell me the results of last week's biopsy. ( i had a "questionable area" removed from the back of my left calf. this spot, to me, looked like a freckle and i never suspected that it would need to be removed. as a matter of a fact, i never even noticed it until she pointed it out to me.) well, it is melanoma. yes. at 32 years old, i have my first melanoma diagnosis. and those of you who know me know that i am a sunblock freak. i suppose i've not always been so "good", as i gave way to many hours to the tanning beds back when i was in college (and a little after). if i knew then what i knew now...
so in 3 weeks i go for a excision, where they will cut off more skin. so much skin that this time, i have to "stay off my leg" for a while so i won't pop any of the stitches. right. how does one do that with a (nearly) 9 month old?
please, if you read this blog, find a dermatologist and GO have a body scan. it takes less than 5 minutes, is painless (they just look at you), and is SO worth it if they can find any bad stuff and remove it before it is too late. just last fall i had a precancer removed from my clavicle. (i actually went in to have a mole removed because i kept knocking it off with my fingernail, it was right under my bra and really was in the way. she saw that spot on my shoulder and suggested i get it off since they were already doing one spot, wouldn't be too much trouble to do two). i'm glad she encouraged me to schedule the full over scan. so the body scan, if you have state employees insurance, only costs the $40 specialist copay. any biopsies will be applied to the deductable - WORTH IT!!!!
I know that it is scary but I'm sure it'll all turn out ok; they caught it "in time" and it's on a place that doesn't get a lot of exposure.
ReplyDeleteI go every year for a full body scan. Last summer, they dug out a big piece of skin from my calf; it turned out to be nothing but I still have a hole back there.
The year before, they zapped a pre-c off my cheek.
I spent WAY WAY WAY too much time in the sun, both real and fake-bake, over the course of my life. I try REAL hard to use at least 45 SPF now.
You are right; it is SO important to have that scan.
Now, as for baby number two (as in order not in importance) wow, so close to both Nathaniel's and my b-days! Woo hoo; we're gonna rival the May contingent!