(no subject)

[sethrak]

Having a suspicious mole removed, along with a smallish chunk of the surrounding tissue, sucks. Not as much as having all four of my wisdom teeth removed sucked, and certainly nowhere NEAR as much as the endoscopic exam of my upper GI sucked, but it's definitely going to rank in the top five ickiest medical procedures I've undergone for some time.

It doesn't hurt anymore, but despite the local anesthetic used, it was NOT as numb as they kept telling me it was supposed to be during the procedure. Yes, I am a wuss. davner is a wonderful, patient, loveable husband for coping with my whining and tears, and for holding my other hand even when I started bleeding.

I've got three stitches and an undeterminate number of small staples in my upper left arm. I say undeterminate because I only remember the doctor specifying the number of stitches to his assistant, and the site is now covered by a bandage. I'm really not looking forward to taking the bandage off to clean the site tomorrow morning. I risked a peek or two as the assistant was cleaning things up afterward, and it was unpleasant.

There's freaking wire holding bits of my flesh together, for Frith's sake! Snakes! On a plane! Wire! In my freaking arm!

::takes a calming sip of root beer, and futilely wishes for some Dr. Pepper::

I was warned there'd be some scarring, but that doesn't particularly bother me. It's bound to look better than that mole did. Once it's healed a bit I may try Mederma on it to minimize the appearance of the scar tissue. I have to keep it bandaged, except for daily cleaning, for the next five days. The stitches will be removed next Thursday. Not sure about the staples. The lab should have the biopsy report done within the next ten days, so hopefully the doctor can tell me the results when I go in next week for the stitches.

I really don't think it's serious. That mole's been there since I was thirteen, if not before. (I never bothered to pay much attention to any of my moles until we learned about skin cancer in middle school. Lots of moles and freckles all over the body run in the family.) It's never changed size, shape, or color in all those years. Changes in any of those three, or a mole that suddenly pops up out of nowhere like dandelions sprouting in spring, are what you usually have to worry about.

I'm just glad the darn thing's gone.

Comments

[thoth-of-nd.livejournal.com]

Don't remind me: I get to have a few moles looked at at some point as well.

Though the one I had removed in high school will not be missed, and was a much less traumatic procedure. It was also much smaller, by the sound of it. Stitches? STAPLES?!? Just how big was the blessed thing? :P

[sethrak.livejournal.com]

Only about the size of a pencil eraser, in circumference and height. My dad's got bigger ones, but his are all flat. They also excised a centimeter or two of the surrounding tissue, though, to make sure they got it all. I really didn't look too closely at the wound afterwards; seeing the black stitches and the angry red flesh really did not entice me to make any measurements.

What little I do remember suggests that the stitches and staples weren't really all that big. They just felt that way going in. >_<

Will report on the size of the cut and number of stitches tomorrow, when I take the bandage off for cleaning.

[thoth-of-nd.livejournal.com]

Um. That's about the size mine was.

And mine was on my neck.

I realize that the surgeon wanted to make damn sure it was closed, but wow...

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

No no no. NEVER look. Ever. Close your eyes and think of England.

I had a wart removed from one of my toes when I was fifteen. The worst part was getting the novacain--huge needle right smack in the heartland of the afflicted area. You could hear me from Tokyo. But the removal itself, once the drugs kicked in, was fine. I recall glancing down and seeing a little waft of smoke coming from my toe, and at the point I decided I'd just lie back, close my eyes and think of England.

JSM

[sethrak.livejournal.com]

::cries:: Alas, I have to look, so I can clean the area properly, and pat it dry after. Doctor's orders. Otherwise I'd leave the bandage in place the full five days if not longer, just so I could avoid looking at it. Avoid getting it wet in the shower. Close my eyes when dressing once the bandage is off. That sort of thing.

Oddly, despite the fact I know I'm not going to enjoy the view, I keep having this urge to peel the bandage off early and poke at it. I know better. So I won't. But the urge is still there, like when I kept wanting to poke at the empty sockets with my tongue when my wisdom teeth came out.

[(Anonymous)]

I hope you are feeling better! Let us know the results!

[sethrak.livejournal.com]

::waves:: Hi Debbie! I was wondering who the anonymous poster was until you called Dav the other night.

Yes, I'm feeling better now, although I still think the stitches look remarkably ugly. I can't wait til they come out on next Thursday.

[frail-obscurity.livejournal.com]

Ow, that sucks. Medical procedures blow. They're never fun, and there's always something creepy about them. Although I'm one of those weirdos who has to look directly into the eye of the storm. When they pull out this massive needle, it's like my eyes are acting on their own, staring down the dragon against the will of my mind. My Dad always wonders how I can do that, since he had a needle accident when he was a kid and he can't look ever since. Not that I blame him. Hospital shit tends to stay with people.

Good to hear your problem is resolved, though. Well... You know what I mean. :)