Good News at the End of a LONG Wait
We've been under a small cloud of worry for the last two months, but it has finally lifted! Back in June, we noticed that a mole on J's thigh was growing quickly and oddly. Comparing it to some pictures on the website of a pediatric dermatologist, we realized that this mole met all but one of the warning signs for melanoma.
It was a little frightening, but we needed to get B to have her large arm mole checked (she was born with it and her pediatrician had suggested we get it removed before she hit puberty) so we called and got an appointment for both of them. Since we wanted to see the pediatric dermatologist, the soonest they could get us in was six weeks away.
That meant six weeks of not knowing if my son had skin cancer. The idea of a 10-year-old getting skin cancer is a bit outlandish, I know, but still . . . what if???? I decided to just put it out of my mind and assume all would work out. After all, it was still small and could be easily removed if it was a problem.
The appointment finally rolled around, and I took both J and B in together for their mole checks. The doctor and her assistants were cheerful and thorough. Instead of just looking at the moles we were concerned about, they did full body checks, including on their scalps and the bottoms of their feet. For any of the moles that were larger or more concerning, the doctor studied them through a special magnifying thingy. (I am so technical!) Anyway, she quickly cleared B and declared that her arm mole was "beautiful" and that we would only need to bring her in for yearly checks once she turns 11, rather than have it removed. So we got some good news right away.
However, for J's leg mole, I knew I hadn't been imagining that it was suspicious when the doctor took twice as long just to look at it through her magnifying thingy. Plus she made sure that the assistants got a good look at it as well. When everyone had had a chance to ogle it, the doctor delivered the bad news.
J's mole was very suspicious, and she recommended a biopsy. This was something that she could do right then, in the office, and then it would be sent to a lab for analysis. I agreed to it, wanting to know as soon as possible. But oh, it was so traumatic for J. It took five of us holding him down (including me) so that they could just get the anaesthetic injected. I had to be in my calmest, most comforting mom role. It's one of the hardest ones we mothers have to play: the one where I act calm and in control while my child is terrified and hurting (and I'm scared as well). The biopsy was not as quick as the doctor had promised either because she had a hard time getting the mole scraped off. It went much deeper than your average mole. When they were finished, J had a huge bloody pit in his leg that made my stomach twist just looking at it. And I had to look at it, so the doctor could show me what was normal about it and I would know if anything went wrong while it was healing.
Ugh. I am not cut out to be a nurse or a doctor or anything like that. But I held it together, another mark up on my board of "gross things I have calmly witnessed since I became a mother."
Unfortunately, the doctor let me know that we would not get the result back for 1-2 weeks. If the mole came back benign, all would be well (even if it decides to grow back). If not, well, then surgery would be needed to make sure that they removed every last cell of it.
It was an eternal two week wait. Well, eleven days to be exact. But we finally got word yesterday that the mole tested normal. Everything is fine, and we just need to do yearly mole checks with him (and continue to keep an eye for funky changes in his moles).
Major blessings!!! I'm so, so grateful!
It was a little frightening, but we needed to get B to have her large arm mole checked (she was born with it and her pediatrician had suggested we get it removed before she hit puberty) so we called and got an appointment for both of them. Since we wanted to see the pediatric dermatologist, the soonest they could get us in was six weeks away.
That meant six weeks of not knowing if my son had skin cancer. The idea of a 10-year-old getting skin cancer is a bit outlandish, I know, but still . . . what if???? I decided to just put it out of my mind and assume all would work out. After all, it was still small and could be easily removed if it was a problem.
The appointment finally rolled around, and I took both J and B in together for their mole checks. The doctor and her assistants were cheerful and thorough. Instead of just looking at the moles we were concerned about, they did full body checks, including on their scalps and the bottoms of their feet. For any of the moles that were larger or more concerning, the doctor studied them through a special magnifying thingy. (I am so technical!) Anyway, she quickly cleared B and declared that her arm mole was "beautiful" and that we would only need to bring her in for yearly checks once she turns 11, rather than have it removed. So we got some good news right away.
However, for J's leg mole, I knew I hadn't been imagining that it was suspicious when the doctor took twice as long just to look at it through her magnifying thingy. Plus she made sure that the assistants got a good look at it as well. When everyone had had a chance to ogle it, the doctor delivered the bad news.
J's mole was very suspicious, and she recommended a biopsy. This was something that she could do right then, in the office, and then it would be sent to a lab for analysis. I agreed to it, wanting to know as soon as possible. But oh, it was so traumatic for J. It took five of us holding him down (including me) so that they could just get the anaesthetic injected. I had to be in my calmest, most comforting mom role. It's one of the hardest ones we mothers have to play: the one where I act calm and in control while my child is terrified and hurting (and I'm scared as well). The biopsy was not as quick as the doctor had promised either because she had a hard time getting the mole scraped off. It went much deeper than your average mole. When they were finished, J had a huge bloody pit in his leg that made my stomach twist just looking at it. And I had to look at it, so the doctor could show me what was normal about it and I would know if anything went wrong while it was healing.
Ugh. I am not cut out to be a nurse or a doctor or anything like that. But I held it together, another mark up on my board of "gross things I have calmly witnessed since I became a mother."
Unfortunately, the doctor let me know that we would not get the result back for 1-2 weeks. If the mole came back benign, all would be well (even if it decides to grow back). If not, well, then surgery would be needed to make sure that they removed every last cell of it.
It was an eternal two week wait. Well, eleven days to be exact. But we finally got word yesterday that the mole tested normal. Everything is fine, and we just need to do yearly mole checks with him (and continue to keep an eye for funky changes in his moles).
Major blessings!!! I'm so, so grateful!
Comments
My brother just had a few cancerous moles removed. scary stuff