Part2:
So, I guess now I can clarify my below position.
About a year ago, a small bump appeared on my back. It could have been there longer. It’s been there so long that my previous girlfriend noticed it. However, it was my current sweetheart that persuaded me to schedule an appointment with the dermatologist. I reluctantly obeyed her wishes. The small bump had grown and had all the markings of Melanoma. Because of my ethnicity, I had believed myself to be immune to skin cancer. I don’t need no stinkin’ SPF 30!!! Let me tell you, my beliefs were erroneous! Skin cancer can strike anyone! And even though cases in darker skinned people are more rare than in whites, statistics say that blacks are more likely to die of skin cancer than whites, This could be because of a lack of information and because we don’t seek the same early treatment.
Well, I went to the doctor yesterday and waited for about an hour in the waiting room reading old car and travel magazines. Finally, the medical assistant called me into an examination room and we briefly discussed my reasons for coming in. After she jotted a few things down on my chart she told me to hold tight and the doctor would be right in.
It’s funny, the things that go through your mind as you sit waiting in a cold room. I didn’t want to move too much because the paper that lined the table would make a loud crackle and I didn’t want to make the nurses think I was rummaging around the room. So I tried to sit still. But for some reason, I had the urge to take a Q-tip out of the jar on the sink. I didn’t have the nerve to get up. so I just sat there and stared at the Q-tips like a dog who covets something off of his masters plate but knows better.
After about 12 minutes or so, Dr. Nichols comes in to examine me. She looks closely at the mole, looks at the chart again and then proceeded to tell me not to worry.
She says don’t worry it’s not Cancer. At that moment, I felt a relief that had so far escaped me during my lifetime. Never had I been so worried about my mortality, not because of health reasons anyway.
As it turns out, the mole is the result of an infected bug bite. I have no idea when or where it happened. I worried if it was some bug I encountered in Thailand or the rain forests in Costa Rica. In any case the only way to remove it would be surgery since it had grown inward pretty deeply. I figured it didn’t really bother me now that I knew what it was so it could stay and hangout for a while. And it would be a constant reminder, that yeah, protect your skin dude! You can get Skin Cancer too!
So, I guess now I can clarify my below position.
About a year ago, a small bump appeared on my back. It could have been there longer. It’s been there so long that my previous girlfriend noticed it. However, it was my current sweetheart that persuaded me to schedule an appointment with the dermatologist. I reluctantly obeyed her wishes. The small bump had grown and had all the markings of Melanoma. Because of my ethnicity, I had believed myself to be immune to skin cancer. I don’t need no stinkin’ SPF 30!!! Let me tell you, my beliefs were erroneous! Skin cancer can strike anyone! And even though cases in darker skinned people are more rare than in whites, statistics say that blacks are more likely to die of skin cancer than whites, This could be because of a lack of information and because we don’t seek the same early treatment.
Well, I went to the doctor yesterday and waited for about an hour in the waiting room reading old car and travel magazines. Finally, the medical assistant called me into an examination room and we briefly discussed my reasons for coming in. After she jotted a few things down on my chart she told me to hold tight and the doctor would be right in.
It’s funny, the things that go through your mind as you sit waiting in a cold room. I didn’t want to move too much because the paper that lined the table would make a loud crackle and I didn’t want to make the nurses think I was rummaging around the room. So I tried to sit still. But for some reason, I had the urge to take a Q-tip out of the jar on the sink. I didn’t have the nerve to get up. so I just sat there and stared at the Q-tips like a dog who covets something off of his masters plate but knows better.
After about 12 minutes or so, Dr. Nichols comes in to examine me. She looks closely at the mole, looks at the chart again and then proceeded to tell me not to worry.
She says don’t worry it’s not Cancer. At that moment, I felt a relief that had so far escaped me during my lifetime. Never had I been so worried about my mortality, not because of health reasons anyway.
As it turns out, the mole is the result of an infected bug bite. I have no idea when or where it happened. I worried if it was some bug I encountered in Thailand or the rain forests in Costa Rica. In any case the only way to remove it would be surgery since it had grown inward pretty deeply. I figured it didn’t really bother me now that I knew what it was so it could stay and hangout for a while. And it would be a constant reminder, that yeah, protect your skin dude! You can get Skin Cancer too!
2 comments:
You know this is a serious story and yet I did find humor in it. I hate that paper on the table also cause it make too much noise. And why did you want a q-tip? What did you plan on doing with it? At any rate I do use sun screen because I was aware that I could get skin cancer. I just assumed everyone else knew too. I know someone that uses spf 1 or something really pointless in the fight against skin protection. I wonder if they are aware of the risk. At any rate, how does a bug bite become infected? I am a hyperchondriac (misspelled that) so maybe it's better that I don't know. LOL
You forgot one Lovett. Remember the time in Savannah when Gus found you in the ..... I'll let you tell it. It is truly a blessing that you are still here. Thank God you came out of them all, but do you ever stop to think: What is my purpose for still being here? What is it that God is keeping alive to do? You are still here for a reason. Ask him? Love-Georgia Peach Swindell
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