Dermatologist

The second week of December I was in California for a few days with two of my sisters (Robyn & Richelle) and my cousin Carol.  We have made it an annual thing to go to Disneyland for Christmas...just us girls...just adults...just the best thing EVER.  I look forward to this trip more than just about anything else all year.  


This year was a little different...with me pregnant, in a wheelchair, Carol came with us, Sydney was working there, and we even got to enjoy the exclusive Club 33.  All fabulous things...no complaints.  Well...the wheelchair thing sucked, but better than not getting to go enjoy the magic with my besties.


So, on Saturday night we got back to the hotel room and I was exhausted.  I guess going to the mall in a wheelchair, waiting in the car at a few other stores, and pigging out at Cheesecake Factory is tiring...who knew?  Anyway...I got in the shower to start the going to bed process.  


At one point, I looked down and the water was brown. And I mean every ounce of water had color to it.  It took me a second to think clearly enough to realize it was blood...and then I even saw red blood splashed up on the side of the white tub.  There was no mistaking what it was at that point.


I stood there for a second trying to think of what I should do.  My first thought was that I must be bleeding A LOT for the tub to have so much blood in it...and that much blood had to be coming from one certain place.  And that one place is not supposed to be bleeding at all.  


I looked down to verify where the blood was coming from, but I can't see past my belly button, so that wasn't going to work.  I tried feeling with my hand, but I was in the shower...so that wasn't working either.  While I am doing all this, my brain was going about a thousand miles a minute...I'm going to have a preemie in California....where will we stay?  How will Mike get here?  How long would we have to stay here?  Can they fly us home to PCH?  Why am I bleeding?  I didn't barely even walk today.  I really didn't want to have the baby without Mike, but how long would they let me wait if I was already bleeding this much? 


Ugh...I was mostly frustrated with the what and why and how of what was going to happen.  


I realized I could not help myself in this situation, so I had to decide who in the hotel room I would want to witness ALL of me in the shower...and have to investigate the bleeding issue.  Well...my BFF drew that short straw.  


I'd already seen Richelle give birth twice...and she'll be there for Blip's birth, so really this should be okay...even though I was about 60 pounds heavier than normal...and standing naked in the shower...with gigantic boobs the size of cantaloupes that aren't quite as pretty as they used to be...and great with child in my watermelon sized belly.


I called out to Carol and asked her to get Richelle for me.  Richelle came to the bathroom door...I poked my head out from behind the curtain and whispered for her to come closer.  She looked frightened, so I just had to come out with it.  I threw back the curtain and asked her where I was bleeding from.  She looked down...and then back up....she still looked afraid of what she was seeing (I don't blame her...I see it everyday!), but she said she couldn't tell where I was bleeding from.


I showed her the water...and I'm sure we weren't whispering by this point.  Robyn made her way to see what the fuss was about...and Carol said she heard the word blood, so privacy was out the window.  Luckily (if luck is a word that can be used here), Carol came around the other side of the tub and opened the shower curtain, so she had a full view of my backside in all my glory (sorry about that, Carol).  She could see that something on my back, up near my shoulder was bleeding...a lot.


I had some instant relief, but then I couldn't figure what/why I was bleeding SO much from some unidentified "thing" on my back.  Since 9-1-1 wasn't needed, the three girls let me finish showering alone...then I got out, dried off and was still puzzled about this new bleeding growth on my back.  Weird.


While my favorite girls made funny comments about me being naked (haha...I will leave those comments unsaid here, but they were dang funny!), I made mention I needed to find a new dermatologist.  Someone closer than Chandler...and someone that would be more helpful removing a mole or two from Mike's back.  Carol mentioned she found an amazing doctor after several not-so-great-doctors visits to help with some issues her kiddos have.


When we got home from Disney, I called and made appointments for both Mike and myself.  I obviously needed whatever was on my back looked at, I needed someone new to help my acne issues as soon as I can take meds again, and it was past time for Mike's skin check.  He has a few moles that need to be checked every year and he also had a small growth near his right eye/bridge of his nose.  We thought it was a skin tag, but it had gotten a bit bigger over time, so we thought we'd mention it.


When we showed up for our appointments on Tuesday morning, they took me back first.  We really, really liked the doc (I think he's actually a PA, but he's great, and probably better than the doc, so a doctor he is!).  


The nurse asked if I wanted to take my shirt off, or if the doctor could look at my issue with my top on.  I looked down at the size of me...and opt'd to keep my top on.  Luckily the growth was on my shoulder...and not somewhere more showy.  The doc came in, looked at my new thing and said it appeared to be growth caused by hormones...most likely from pregnancy (or IVF).  He said it was most likely a harmless blood vessel, but also said it would bleed a lot if irritated.  He said something as simple as my bra strap could cause the bleeding...and it's right where my bra strap would irritate it.  He thought we should take it off.  He'd send it out the lab just to verify it was nothing.  So he cut it off and cauterized that spot.  Done in a few minutes...no big deal.


While the nurse prepped me, it was Mike's turn.  I'm not sure what they talked about in the beginning, since I was in my room and he was in his, but when the doctor came back to do his thing in my room, he said he was going to remove a couple moles from Mike's back and the little flap of skin near his eye.  I asked the doctor if he thought the moles were an issue and he said he did not believe so, but because they bothered Mike he would take them off and send them out to be safe.  He went on to say that he was more concerned about the tiny flap of skin because it resembled basal cell carcinoma.  I was surprised, but he said it would also be sent out to be sure.


After they finished up with me, we all went next door to Mike's room.  The doc removed the moles on his back, cauterized them and then had Mike roll over to his back.  He did the same thing to the  skin flap thingy near Mike's eye and we were done.  


$70 in co-pays, a few less spots on our bodies and a only few minutes later...can't complain. (Not to mention it only took a few weeks to get in.  Some dermatologists I looked in to were scheduling new patients months out.)  We hopped in the car and headed towards our next appointment.  I swear...between the two of us we live at the doctors office these days.  If it isn't for one thing...it's something else.


This morning, while laying in bed, Mike's phone rang.  He reached over and answered it...I was lying next to him, so I could hear the chick on the other end.  She just wanted to let Mike know that the moles came back benign, but the tiny, flesh colored skin flap thingy (my word, not hers) was in fact basal cell carcinoma.  She tossed in there that it was the nonmelanoma type of cancer, so most likely it will be no big deal.  However, it still has to be dealt with...it's still stupid cancer.

I immediately reached for my phone and googled "basal cell carcinoma".  Everything I found said the same thing...very common, unlikely to spread to other parts of the body, etc.  Before the chick hung up, she gave Mike the name and number of the surgeon they recommend we use.  She said the surgeon's office should get ahold of us, but thought we should take down the name and number just in case.


While we waited for my non-stress test (NST) today at the hospital, the surgeon's office called.  Mike is all set for surgery next Thursday.  He will be having the Mohs Surgery...and it will be done by Dr. Romine.


Luckily, we aren't ones to stress about stuff...until it needs to be stressed about.  It's really more of an inconvenience because we currently have so many other things going on health wise for both of us...then add Blip to the mix and we have plenty on our plates already.  We are very thankful this thing came back as a nonmelanoma type of cancer...that is a huge relief to both of us.


We are now praying for no more medical issues for a while.  Blip can join us at anytime, but other than that...we are good for now. 


Now I can honestly say I am so very thankful for that stupid thing on my back bleeding so much that night in the shower.  I am usually very good about keeping up on our check-ups, but with so much going on...and wanting to find a new dermatologist and blah blah blah...I am glad we didn't put it off any longer.