no cancer!

Reality check:

On Monday, the wife and I went to a dermatologist appointment together. We both have had a couple of skin conditions that we were wary of. You never know if something happening on your skin is cancerous or benign or just a nuisance. Not unless you have some training on skin conditions, that is, like a dermatologist! 

I have had a thing growing on the right side of my face that was starting to grow rapidly. Kind of a wart, but maybe not? These days, with our thinning atmosphere and skin, the sun can do odd things to you. The doc took one look at it and called it a "seborrheic keratosis." He went on, "It's not cancerous. Totally benign. You can remove it if you like, or leave it." Not wanting a rather ugly wart to take over my face, I had him remove it. A quick shot of numbing agent, then he took a scalpel and just scraped that fucker off of my face. "All done," he said. "It won't ever come back, in the same place, but could appear elsewhere." And what causes them, I asked? He leaned in and whispered, "old age." It was official. A doctor called me old. I am not shocked.

A second "thing" was some seborrheic dermatitis on my face and scalp that I had had previously diagnosed. It responds well to the ointment a previous dermatologist gave me, but he said, "It will keep coming back." But it's also noncancerous.

And the "third" thing was a second keratosis on my back. Too small to worry about now. "See? They grow anywhere," he said. Getting old pretty much sucks. I heard that frequently growing up, but it never really sunk in, but now, natch, it hits home. 

And it turns out the "thing" that my wife wanted him to examine was yet another keratosis. She chose to scrape this one off, and voila, it was done in under a minute. 

We were both pretty ecstatic with our visit. It's one of those nagging things in the back of your mind you have to eventually deal with. After the rise of Kamala Harris, and then this...this has been a pretty good week so far. It's nice to feel some joy once in a while. Everyone should be able to have some euphoriants now and then. Everything in moderation.

I know how serious cancer can be. So far, I have avoided it entirely, but I half-expect it to pop up someday with no notice.  My wife has had 2 types, both before she was 30 years old, both treated and she is totally healed. My mother had 3 types of cancer, and the last one, non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, finally got her. My dad never had any cancer, but he had heart issues and high blood pressure that he passed on to me. I guess another good thing about not having kids is never having to see them contract some horrible disease and die before I do.

This week? JOY!