On the first Monday of December, I went to a dermatologist for the first time in a long time, to have him look at a bump on my nose. I’d had it for close to 2 years and I wasn’t especially worried about it, it didn’t look anything like melanoma – it was the same color as the rest of my nose, smooth but with a slight bump on it, fairly firm to the touch, and not sore or painful in any way. The doc said it was probably from a hair follicle. He asked if I wanted it shaved off to the level of the surrounding skin, and I said yes.
He went immediately to work: first he jabbed it with what I assume was a local, and as usual that was the worst part, he kept pushing the needle in a lot further than I expected, and then I could feel something being injected. After a brief wait, he then turned on a machine and went after the bump, apparently shaving it off in layers until it was down to the level of the rest of my nose, i.e. gone. The nurse put a tiny bandage on it, and after about 3 weeks all was healed and invisible – no scar. One or more of those layers were sent for biopsy (negative). I can feel, but not really see, a tiny divot where the bump used to be. The whole visit was over in 15 minutes.
I’m glad I did it. I hated that bump, even though it was benign.
I had two actinic keratoses frozen off a few weeks ago, and returned last Friday for a follow-up appointment. The PA-C said they were healing nicely, and also froze off a wart that had popped up in the meantime, and prescribed some clobetasol ointment for a perennial winter problem I have dealt with for many years, and that’s skin cracks around my thumbs. IDK if it’s the ointment, or that it hasn’t been that cold here this weekend, but that area is healing and I hope it stays that way.
Just like Tom told us, the waiting really is the hardest part.
I’m having some skin tags removed this week. I thought the doc was going to freeze them off but apparently she will numb each one up and then snip them off.
I’ve had a little bump on the side of my nose for my whole life, and two of my uncles and my grandfather had the same bump. I probably could get it removed, but it’s never killed any of us, and I’m used to it.
I had a cyst removed from my cheek a number of years ago. It bothered me so much, but I guess it wasn’t really all that apparent to anyone else. The doctor asked the nurse to get him a needle and as she handed it to him, he looks at me and says, “A fine needle for a fine lady!”
I think I may have given him an uncomfortable grin, but I really just thought he was gross. And speaking of gross, I’ll spare you the details of what was pulled out of my nose after sinus surgery. It was yucky for sure.
I figured the post was going to be an … interesting … story about how a foreign object got up there (innocently of course) then needed professional help getting back out. Oh well.
I’ve had so much stuff peeled off my body over the years it isn’t funny. Right now I’ve got one scrape-and-burn removal and two 1-1/4" incisional removals still healing. All three were basal cell carcinomas. Of which I’ve had far more than 30; I lost count decades ago. At least these three aren’t on my face. What I can say is even rather chronic skin cancer is an irritant, not a crisis. I’m vigilant, but I sure don’t sweat waiting for biopsy results.
Ref @Chronos and @Misnomer:
I had an odd lump on my cheek from teenage until nearly age 60 years ago. Nothing gross, but an odd-looking area of raised texture nevertheless. Finally asked if the doc could remove it without too much scarring, aftercare, hassle, etc. Sure! 10 minutes later it was gone. Well worth it. I hadn’t realized how much that lump bothered my perception of my face until it wasn’t looking at me every morning in the mirror.
I have a pair of moles on my face that drive me nuts, but the dermatologist says if she removes them the scars will probably be more visible than the moles are now. (They are moles, but they are the same color as the rest of my face.)
