Atypical

On Monday I had a couple of my moles biopsied. I was really nervous about it. I see these procedures all the time I knew exactly what was going to happen, but I still was nervous about getting the Lidocaine. I'm not really afraid of needles, but I've seen people's reactions when they're having the injection, and it made me worry.

I shouldn't have. It stung a little, but only for a second.

My doctor is really great and he was joking with us (I had Jay come with me for Lidocaine moral support.) the entire time, and once he was done I was really relieved to have it all over and done.

Or so I thought.

The pathology came back on them, or rather, my co-workers called and had it sent to us because they were sick of watching me pacing the halls. And at first I was excited by what I saw: Melanocytic Nevus, Compound Type. I don't know what that means except for that "Nevus" means "mole." But then I read on: "With mild to moderate atypia, see note." And the note we see says, "If this is a biopsy of a larger, clinically concerning legion, a conservative but complete reexcision would be prudent."

I like when it says "conservative but complete." Read, "You don't have to strip her of her skin as a whole, but make sure you get the entire mole." Thanks for that, guys.

So I get to go in again and have them taken off completely. If I was scared for the biopsy, this one has me holding my breath. They just cut an elliptical cut around the mole and then sew it shut again, but there's this point when they've taken the mole and layer of skin off and you're looking at the hole left behind. It's a little intimidating. And lucky me, I get two of them.

I'm glad I decided to just go ahead and get them checked. The way my doctor explained it, there's mild atypia, then moderate, then extreme, and then cancer. So I wasn't there yet, and not even on a clear cut road since atypia doesn't always lead to cancer, but this way they'll be gone and I won't have to worry about watching them.

And now you know more about the moles on my body than you care to. But hey, the good news is now I'll have a better shot at the Dr. Pepper overdose death I always dreamed of.