UPDATE: I got a voicemail from my doctor today with good news. i seem to in fact be skin-cancer free. guess my body doesn’t hate me afterall. 🙂
how’s that for a headline?
apparently my body hates me and such (is it mad that i stopped eating meat? or just upset at my constant taco bell runs?) because aside from the whole super painful gallstones, i also had a random thing on my arm.
no. it wasn’t like a mole or anything really gross. just a thing. a pale, skin colored thing.
and i had it taken off today to be tested. which was kind of weird. they numbed a 2-inch by 2-inch area of my arm and then scraped that sucker right off with a razor blade. the worst part may have been the numbing shot, but after the heck of a surgery i went through last week, the burning sensation i got it from it was the equivalent of brushing my teeth.
i didn’t watch or anything, seeing as how i like to avoid throwing up and all. but i did look at it after they finished. when i got to work. in the privacy of a bathroom stall. you know, just to be safe.
and i was TOLD i could change the bandages in a hour because it would stop bleeding, but that was crap. because TWO hours later, i tried to put on a regular band-aid brand bandage and the thing bled right through it. at this point i thought ‘hmm, i shall find the office first aid kit and commence with using it.”
apparently though, the extent of my office first aid kit is a poster on choking (h/t lovely co-worker) so instead, i grabbed the large cotton bandage from the garbage and put it back on my arm with masking tape.
planning to go with my life, i sat back down at my desk and told my co-worker what i had done.
“WHAT? FROM THE GARBAGE?!!! IT WILL GET INFECTED!! TAKE THAT OFF!”
i argued that it was a better plan than walking in negative 10 degree weather to the local 7/11 to get a real bandaid, but she would have none of it. so i took the stupid garbage band-aid off and applied pressure with a napkin.
and then i remembered that i had some heavy duty band-aids in my bag as a result of my roommate buying me four boxes of them after my surgery (thanks again for that roomie!).
hallelujah!
i slapped one of those “tough-strips” on and got back to checking emails. about 5 hours later it seems to have held up, so i think things worked out fine.
i’m told i’ll hear back about the whole ‘is it or is it not skin cancer” question sometime within the next few days. in the meantime, if ya’ll could pray that it is “not skin cancer” that’d be great, seeing as how i only have 1.5 sick days to last me the rest of 2009.
thanks in advance. 🙂
Hey, this is Jill’s cousin, she posted your blog on facebook.
I’ve had a similar loss of pigment on my arm before, in fact its still there (after 7 or so years). The dermatologist told me it was my body rejecting this mole that was surrounded by this loss of pigment. I’ve also had a mole removed before, same numbing shot and razor blade technique. You would think with all the technology out there, they would be able to move past razor blades. Best of luck on the results!
apparently though, the extent of my office first aid kit is a poster on choking.
That line had me laughing for about 10 minutes. haha
Yeah, I think that’s still technically a mole you had, even if it was skin-colored and not “bumpy,” per say. I think that sort of stuff runs in my family, but it’s all been benign. So, have some hope!
@jason: thanks so much for reading my blog! hope you stay tuned. as for the razor blades, i completley agree. you’d think you could just stick your skin under a special light or something by this point.
Bandage from the garbage. hahah i love it.