De-moleing

[maharetr]

Today was the day of what, for the last week or so, I've been carefully calling 'mole removal'. First there was a blood test for a (hopefully) unrelated hormone test; I've been getting sharp thigh aches, that were kinda getting worse before my period, so Dr J suggested I get my hormone levels checked.

They took four vials of blood, three from the vein in my right wrist that I'm now thinking of as 'enthusiastic, but mobile', which dried up when they tried for a fourth. Switching over to a vein in my left elbow did the trick. I was careful to eat a bit, and drink whenever I remembered, given last experience of being dehydrated and feeling very dizzy/faint after giving three vials to Health on the Move for a fasting test. The sensation of needle scraping vein is still unpleasant, but totally survivable.

For the moles, I was face down on a bed, and given local anesthetic. The local stung a lot more than getting the HPV vaccines, and maybe slightly more than vein scrapping. Again, totally survivable. The actual removal/cutting/sewing up really didn't hurt. I hadn't quite believed people when they said that, but it really was just pulling and tugging, and I couldn't tell which was the cutting parts and which was the sewing up. I had maybe two extra doses of anesthetic from the "can you feel that?" prodding, one for each of the two latter moles, and the Dr. made some comment along the lines of "it seems to be missing the top edge," so I didn't feel like it was 'just me'.

Drove home a little before 2pm, took two neurofen soon after (Nurse S said to take painkillers at the start of sensation returning, rather than later), and didn't really start to feel anything until maybe 7pm, when I started having the sense of...sensation. The uncomfortable side of tingling. black_samvara reported that I have three bloody dressings, which promptly started feeling a little damp, but are still fine. Nurse S had suggested changing them on Friday 'if you're sweaty etc,' and to soak them off. They're waterproof, so I can shower without changing them, and she only gave me one extra set, so it seems pretty low maintenance.

I have this distinct sense of wanting to keep my left arm against my side and not raise it at all (the largest mole [I think it was the largest...] was removed from near my left shoulder blade). It's starting to sting a little, but took one neurofen recently, so we'll see how it goes. Results and stitches out next Friday.

Comments

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

*love* Glad to hear it went well.

You are braver than I - I would have been very heavily leaning toward emotional support! *snuggles*

[maharetr.livejournal.com]

Huh. My 'reasonable' answer is that the support person would then have to watch the gory part, and be far more uncomfortable than me.

The 'I was barely aware of it answer'? It never occurred to me to ask. Both in the sense of 'I don't need it' but on a deeper level, in the 'whoever I would ask would say no...' sort of way. *turns that over in my mind*

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

If you'd asked, I imagine any number of people would have said yes :) It's one of those things where it's a kind of inviting people in, to be vulnerable to them and experience/build closeness.

[madradish.livejournal.com]

*hugs* sweetie. I agree that you're very brave.

[maharetr.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Thanks! The doctor and nurse were wonderful, which helped.

[rabbit1080.livejournal.com]

I like it when that happens.
And well done to you :)

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

*waits for you to 'sweat'*

[maharetr.livejournal.com]

:P

<3

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

May I ask what led you to this point? I've been keeping an eye on a few spots for a while now, and had the GP check a few, but I'm planning a trip to a specialist skin scanning clinic to have someone check them all as a fresh baseline.

Good luck with the results. See you on Saturday - I might come around a bit early for some quiet scalp massage time before the programming session.

[maharetr.livejournal.com]

Sure. :) Back in...May? Work organised on-work's-time skin cancer checks, and I booked an appointment. I (had) three large moles on my back, which the person studied, wanded, and showed me the computer scan. She said they weren't cancerous, but I should check them every month for changes.

At which point, I thought 'every month?' and proceeded to do...not much at all. I got black_samvara to take the occasional photos, but it was a very half-arsed examination.

I finally got over my inertia (weird, 'la, la, la' fear block? or something) and tried to make an appointment with the skin cancer clinic. They told me they didn't have any openings for a month, and if I was after a direct removal then I'd just be given a referral to my GP anyway.

So I made an appointment with Dr, saying "I'd rather have them out than having to worry that my body is going to eat me" and he looked at my back. He said the three should definitely come out, and depending on the results, we might go after the others on my back, too.

Now, we wait. If you don't have a regular doctor (as I didn't for quite a while) I'd put in a rec for this one. :)