This is a pic of the scar on my back from my biopsy. it is a little longer than a quarter, but better than having skin cancer.
In case you didn’t know, may is skin cancer awareness month. so i thought i would take this time to share my experience with you. i don’t know if it was just me or if all moms notice this, but i swear my freckles and moles changed dramatically during pregnancy. i imagine it has something to do with all of the hormones.
After i had my son, i noticed a freckle that i couldn’t see for the previous four months because of my baby bump. it was always a dark freckle but it had grown to about the size of a pencil eraser and the center was a different color. i probably would have let it go for a while but my husband convinced me i should go in to get it checked. sure enough the doctor made me get a biopsy of it and of one on my back that i hadn’t even noticed. the results on both came back extremely abnormal so i had to go back to get a different more invasive kind of surgery to remove more of the tissue…just to be safe. even though the results didn’t come back as cancerous, i still have to go back to the dermatologist every six months now to get a full body check.
Unfortunately as a native californian, i was a sun worshiper and used to frequent the tanning salon non-stop as a teenager. in my day (now i REALLY sound old) we used to be able to tan for 30 minutes and then go into the leg and face tanner to get even darker. i can also remember a time when i laid out ALL DAY LONG with baby oil & iodine on and ended up with such a bad sunburn that i couldn’t bend my legs because it felt like my skin would rip. i had the shakes and had to lay in the back of my dads van (showing my age again…no seatbelt in the back of the van….gasp)! i cringe when i think about it now. and i have the wrinkles and skin damage to show for it.
After i had my son, i noticed a freckle that i couldn’t see for the previous four months because of my baby bump. it was always a dark freckle but it had grown to about the size of a pencil eraser and the center was a different color. i probably would have let it go for a while but my husband convinced me i should go in to get it checked. sure enough the doctor made me get a biopsy of it and of one on my back that i hadn’t even noticed. the results on both came back extremely abnormal so i had to go back to get a different more invasive kind of surgery to remove more of the tissue…just to be safe. even though the results didn’t come back as cancerous, i still have to go back to the dermatologist every six months now to get a full body check.
Unfortunately as a native californian, i was a sun worshiper and used to frequent the tanning salon non-stop as a teenager. in my day (now i REALLY sound old) we used to be able to tan for 30 minutes and then go into the leg and face tanner to get even darker. i can also remember a time when i laid out ALL DAY LONG with baby oil & iodine on and ended up with such a bad sunburn that i couldn’t bend my legs because it felt like my skin would rip. i had the shakes and had to lay in the back of my dads van (showing my age again…no seatbelt in the back of the van….gasp)! i cringe when i think about it now. and i have the wrinkles and skin damage to show for it.
from the stylish housewife
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