I was reading Henrike's Blog and found out May is skin cancer awareness month. This reminded me of a skin cancer scare I had back in April/May 2006. I was going to the dermatologist to get numerous moles removed and tested because my father was recently diagnosed with melanoma. In one visit they removed 8 or 9 off my back and shoulders. Nasty little things! The doctor sent them in to get tested.
I waited a week to get the results and my doctor called to tell me she was concerns as the cells in the test look pre-cancerous. She said not to worry, but she wanted to be honest about the situation. She told me I had to come back in so she can "dig" a little deeper to ensure she removed everything from the area. I went in and she addressed the two moles that she was concerned with and sent in for more tests.
I will never forget being a little scared to hear the results of the skin tests. The good news is the tests came back and she said I was OK and did not have cancer, but I should come back regularly for check ups. What a relief to both me and my wife!
Moral of the story – please get to a dermatologist to get a checkup. Especially if you have moles!
Can you believe the skin test results came two weeks before I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. What are the odds of this happening? I had no clue I was a person living with cancer the entire time.
4 weeks ago