I can remember driving around with my mom and older sister when I was younger. My older sister was probably around 13 years old, so I was 5 or 6 years old. I remember my sister was trying to convince my mom that moles give you cancer. She emphatically exclaimed, "No mom, I'm serious, cause like this girl at school, her mom had this mole, and the doctor told her it was cancer, and they had to take out this like humongous chuck of her skin." My mom was dismissing her nonchalantly. I'm sure my mom knows that skin cancer can develop from irregular looking moles, but she was just trying to make sure her kids wouldn't go into a cancer fearing panic every time they saw a freckle on their skin. At this point, I was already panicked in the backseat. I could remember seeing kids with cancer on TV and some B list movie star telling me to donate money or these kids would die - they would die! I sat there starring at the moles on my forearm, simply terrified. I listened to my sister make her next argument from the front seat, "Really mom, if you have a mole that looks funny, it's probably cancer, you have to go to like the doctor right away."
Then I saw it, a funny looking mole. It was small and the same brown color as all of the other moles on my skin, but it wasn't perfectly round. I didn't want to die, so I knew what I had to do - I would have to excise the mole. I started to pick at the offensive mole and soon drew blood. After I removed a good section around the mole, I was satisfied and held my sleeve to the wound to stop the bleeding. The section of skin never really healed properly - it's a small bump that's barely darker than its surrounding skin. It's amazing how unfiltered information can influence a young mind. Actually, it's amazing how unfiltered information can influence an adult mind. Have you ever tried to explain antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the average mom? I'm not even sure I've convinced my own mom. Oh well, it's been almost 20 years, and (knock on wood) I've been cancer free! The procedure was a success!
--By Farrah, who is already tired of Thanksgiving leftovers, and it's only been one day!
Then I saw it, a funny looking mole. It was small and the same brown color as all of the other moles on my skin, but it wasn't perfectly round. I didn't want to die, so I knew what I had to do - I would have to excise the mole. I started to pick at the offensive mole and soon drew blood. After I removed a good section around the mole, I was satisfied and held my sleeve to the wound to stop the bleeding. The section of skin never really healed properly - it's a small bump that's barely darker than its surrounding skin. It's amazing how unfiltered information can influence a young mind. Actually, it's amazing how unfiltered information can influence an adult mind. Have you ever tried to explain antibiotic-resistant bacteria to the average mom? I'm not even sure I've convinced my own mom. Oh well, it's been almost 20 years, and (knock on wood) I've been cancer free! The procedure was a success!
--By Farrah, who is already tired of Thanksgiving leftovers, and it's only been one day!
5 comments:
We didn't have enough turkey leftovers, and everyone was so upset that my mom is now making another turkey.
sounds like you have brilliant, if bloody, career in derm ahead of you.
see i knew you had a cure for cancer!
Wow, thank goodness this story ended up being so much more light-hearted than I feared. When I read the title I was like, "oh great, Wife had her first medical procedure in a hospital and had to tell some kid they have cancer - so sad!" Luckily you had to tell yourself you didn't have cancer. Yay!
For at least a couple months straight this year, Mark had a mole on his arm that was perfectly normal but that he obsessed over pretty much non-stop. Silly boy!
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