Cancer Scare.

Happy Thursday!

Today started off at work, and a quick date with the spin bike.

I didn’t have a whole lot of time this morning so a fast 20 minutes on the bike was just enough.

I had to hurry home to get the kids ready and bring them with me to a Doctor appointment.

Warning: The next picture is disgusting and if you get queasy easy, I’d close your eyes for a quick second. ..

A few weeks ago I found a mole on the back of my head. I must of hit it with a brush or something and caused it to bleed and ever since then I have been picking at it, just because I knew it was there and was bugging me. (I’m a picker..) It started getting bigger and more inflamed. I took a picture of it and sent it to my Aly (my step mom) She worked up at Huntsman Cancer Institute for some time and did mole mapping. I wanted to know if she had seen anything like it before.

Totally disgusting.. I know. Don’t say I didn’t warn you..

She recommended that I get it looked at, and I called and made an appointment for about a week out. Last night she sent the picture to one of her friends and they responded and told me to get it checked immediately.

Which is something you always want to hear.

Her friend recommended a different doctor and I was able to see her this morning. At this point is when I got pretty nervous about it. Skin Cancer is common in my family and I am not always the best about sunscreen. But I never thought twice about it before I had discovered that ugly thing.

This mole is on my scalp on the back of my head, so I really had no idea how long it had been there or what shape or color it was before I had found it and started picking at it.

The Doctor was very calm and sweet. I had my kids with me and Aly. It helped me to have them all there. The doctor examined that mole and a few others on my body and said that because it is so irritated she can’t tell completely. She recommended 2 things.

1. Leave it and let it heal so we can see it better.

2. Remove it today and send it in for testing and just get it off so it doesn’t bother me anymore.

I chose option #2. She numbed my scalp with some local anesthetic (which was completely safe for baby) which was a quick sting and made made my eyes water a bit. I will admit I was a little emotional too but didn’t want to cry over nothing.. Can I blame pregnancy hormones for that one?

There was so many what ifs going through my and mind and as Tanner held my hand and told me it was okay, I couldn’t help but smile. The doctor scraped off the mole quickly and put some neosporin on it and told me that I should hear back the results from pathology in the next couple days. The doctor didn’t think it was anything dangerous, but it is better to be safe and have it tested, then be sorry.

I agreed.

I feel a little relieved but still anxious for the results. Cancer is a scary and completely unfair thing in life. Nobody is immune and it could happen to anyone. I have lost two family members to it, and have had friends, friends children and know of several people who all go through cancer as well. We all cruise through life hearing about it and  I’m sure everyone knows someone, or has had someone close to them affected by cancer.

Today, I just want everyone to take a step back and just be aware. Visit your doctor at least once a year, have a dermatologist check out any suspicious moles, and never for two seconds think it could never happen to you.

Afterward, Aly recommended grabbing a treat from Davids Italian Ice. I have never been there before and was immediately intrigued by the sound of italian ice + Custard.

I ended up getting and orange colada with vanilla custard.

It was so good and definitely made me feel better after that stressful last hour.

The numbing didn’t last long and I ended up with quite the headache on the way home. Luckily, I had nothing scheduled for the afternoon and was able to go home and rest for a few hours. I haven’t ever had a migraine before but if I had to guess what it was.. that was it. I was super nauseous and overheated. Tanner and Baylee watched “The Little Mermaid” while I snoozed on the couch next to them.

I slept for about an hour and got up and ate a late lunch. That included the last of my crockpot salsa chicken.

With a side of plain chobani with pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice and liquid vanilla stevia.

Chobani came out with a pumpkin spice flavor that I have yet to find, so I just made do with what I had. It was actually perfection and I am so excited for more pumpkin in my life.

We ended the day with Baylees dance class, teaching a boot camp and a quick walk with a good friend while Brent had a “bro night” with his friends scouting for some deer. 

Now, it’s time to call it a day!

Have you ever had a mole removed?