All About Skin...

Last year I had a funny looking "freckle" on my arm. I asked my doctor about it. He took a punch biopsy and said it was nothing to worry about. I didn't think too much about it because I have a lot of freckles and moles anyway. But it bugged me, because it was larger than most and I thought it was ugly. It looked a lot like the photo below:



About six months later I noticed it was getting thicker, raised up more from the skin. So I went to a dermatologist and had a more invasive biopsy. The diagnosis... melanoma. That was scary. Melanoma can kill you. Fortunately, it was what they called a "stage zero", meaning it had not spread to any other location. But it had to be cut out. That was last summer. The incision was about two inches long, and I still have a scar. It's not too bad but it is visible. It's slightly red and raised, especially at the ends. My brother-in-law, who is a surgeon, calls these raised ends "dog ears" and says they will go away in time. It's been about nine months now, and they are going away. I am still treating it with silicone, which seems to be helping.

I am writing this so you will go to a dermatologist and have him/her check any funny looking growth you may have. I feel very lucky that mine was caught before it spread.

Oh, and one more thing. Last week I had my legs waxed. I had had that done before, and at the same place and never had a problem. But this time I got a sore on my leg about 24 hours later. It was a staph infection. I went to the doctor and had it cultured. I wanted to make sure it wasn't MRSA, which is a more dangerous infection that is resistant to antibiotics. I found out it is indeed staph, but fortunately a treatable kind. So now I am taking antibiotics to get rid of it. You just never know!