@msolga,
msolga wrote:
Post as much as it helps, osso.
All of us here understand why you'd be really worried until you know for certain that you're OK.
I certainly do, that's for sure.
You don't have to be stoic, OK?
Wot da puddy tat said. You do whatever you want to here.
Hope damned spot is good spot and if not, out pronto.
Damned spots.
@ossobuco,
Quote:Thing is, I post easily on med issues since they've been an interest since I was ten and wanted to be a doctor, and spent some years in the med world after that. So I also post easily about mine. It can feel very me-me-me, though, especially when it is...
So, I'll be quiet for a while (I know I just said that, heh).
You are
allowed to post "easily", for whatever reason, osso.
If you choose to be quiet for a while, then that's entirely up to you to decide.
Me, I'm concerned about the symptoms you've described & will feel a helluva lot better to hear you're OK.
@ossobuco,
ossobuco wrote:
Thursday was the day I found that the spot on my palm very well might be melanoma.
I was remembering that my hand, the one with the spot on the palm, was looked at closely by three doctors not very long ago to see if I had carpal tunnel or just arthritis or, some other possibilities like, er, tendonitis. I was kvetching about their missing the spot if - of course - it isn't just some freckle. They looked at my palm while attaching electrodes, for example. I don't remember for sure just how brown the spot was then.
What made melanoma arise is that the spot had been turning brown and browner and my light bulb went on. I've waited six weeks to see my primary, which I also talked about in this thread and one other (the grit and grimace thread). Turns out that spots on palms can be worrisome, since that is where melanoma often/sometimes presents itself.
Melanoma can occur anywhere in the body, though incidence in sun-exposed areas of the body is higher - particularly for folks with fair skin, red hair & freckles. Most dermal melanomas are very dark and have very irregular boundaries. Edgarblythe suggested you seek some of the readily avasilable pictures of melanomsa on the internet. I think that is an excellent idea - either way, but mostly because it is a likely way for you to get some reassurance, quickly and with little effort. Scary things can grow, without reason, in the mind, and positive action is a good antidote for that. Despite all the hype, melanoma is very treatable. There are several other more common forms of skin cancer which are very easily treatable as well. Even so, don't waste time.
Good luck. I wish you well.
@ossobuco,
I'm a great believer in healthy body/ healthy mind and the power of positive thought. From what I've read of your posts, you've got that in spades. Chin up darling, you're going to be alright.
@izzythepush,
Yeah, all that, osso
It's just that...we can hardly wait to find out it's only a big freckle.
I just found this thread!
osso, go to a good dermatologist and have yourself checked out, only
they can determine what's cancerous and what's not. I have tons of freckles
too and I don't really have time to monitor them all (I'd be sitting here for years) but I do take precaution and use sunscreen and stay out of the sun.
Good luck to you and don't take these things lightly!
OK, I just called the dermo closest to me (also the same one Butrflynet recommended), and was told they could get me in in early November. Then I went into my song and dance routine and was transferred to another person who set me up for September 14th. I can deal with that.
So, I'll be quiet on this thread for a couple of weeks.
@ossobuco,
September 14, that's pretty good. Far better than November!
@ossobuco,
September 14th, yaaaaaaaa! I had a cancer removed from just to the right of my right eye. It was a burn from a curling iron that I just thought would heal by itself. I had the Mose (or something like that word) where they grind away at a tiny layer at a time, testing for cancer in between. I had 3 grindings. Hardly a scar.
Actually, I hypnotize myself during these scary things. Just breathe, slowly into the belly area, imagine the room (include the doctor and yourself) are in a white light. Count backwards from 100. Time passes quicker, keeps you from getting panicky. That is, should you have a local and are awake. It just fills up all that time.
@ossobuco,
oh, good. I'm glad you've got a reasonably soon appointment, osso.
@ossobuco,
I'll mark it on my calendar. Let me know what time and I'll drive you.
Soz, that's what I thought.
Arella, thanks, kid.
Pem - oddly, I've always enjoyed surgery itself, it's my old medical self paying attention. My most fun one had the worst result, hah. Eye surgeries, I guess of certain types, have changed/progressed since that one, as my present eye guy has explained to me, so no more fabulous color movies occur in the process these days. Anyway, I tend to like being at least semi awake. Also, when I was seventeen and working in the minifilm department part time, the chief of staff of the rather good hospital died in surgery in a . . . nasal polyp operation. So, I try to avoid general anaesthesia if I can.
J, ditto on it being reasonable.
@Pemerson,
That's what I had done at UNM when the skin cancer came back after the first biopsy and removal. Luckily, they got it all in the first round and it has shown no signs of reappearing after 9 months so far.
Osso, here's some info on the Mohs technique:
http://www.mohscollege.org/about/
@Butrflynet,
Thanks, B.
Good to have this thread as a resource for me, and others.
@ossobuco,
My hoper has been oiled and primed. It will be operational for you.
September 14 isn't too long to wait. Screw November!
@Roberta,
Plus, I just succeeded in getting rid of freckles as a tag and getting skin cancer into the tags - with the idea of the thread as a source.
Screw November, a rallying cry. Man the trumpets.
@ossobuco,
Now that you say it, I've always found my few operations an adventure. D&C, 2 babies, partial hysterectomy. That's about it.
When I went back for 6-week checkup after the hyst. the doctor was looking down there, said, "Well, you don't look 68. You could start over." I didn't ask but should have said, "You mean down there?"
Hey Osso - will be thinking about you today when you see the consultant... do let us know how you get on...
sending love and hugs
<tea for later>
x
