After what was an absolutely fantastic birthday weekend, Monday morning came with an event decidedly less fun – my annual visit to the dermatologist. The appointment, at 7:30 a.m. after the mind blowing David Byrne show at Proctor’s the previous night, had been rescheduled to an earlier date from what had originally been booked.
I had a “thing” on my cheek that I had been keeping an eye one. It was kind of a dull reddish color and I had noticed it had scabbed or flaked a couple of times in the past two months or so. It made me uncomfortable, particularly when a cousin had yet another thing removed from their own face.
I do not mess with melanoma or malignancy.
You shouldn’t either.
My provider noted not one, but two, things on my left cheek, as well as something on my clavicle that I kept noticing a scab on, but never remembered to examine myself in a mirror. She gave me a general, head to toe (and even between the toes) look over, noting two innocent moles on my shoulder.
Then she took out the cryo gas and quickly blasted the three areas of potential concern. Out damned spot, as they say, out!
Have you ever experienced a blast of liquid nitrogen to your face? It is not fun. Like, no where near as enjoyable as the weekend which had preceded its application. It begins as an icy cold sting that expands into a focused sharp pain that lingers longer than you think it should.
Quite simply, it hurts.
The discomfort generally dissipates in less than an hour other than the odd twinge. Since the day was now mine, a 25+ mile bike ride seemed the perfect activity to displace any remaining hurt in my face with a slight ache in my butt from the cycling. Problem solved!
After lunch in Schenectady, I drove home and took Jeter for a walk around the block in the late afternoon sunshine. As we passed a neighborhood business, I felt a sudden pain, not on my face this time but instead on the front of my foot, just below the tongue of my Stan Smith’s. Wtf?!
I looked down to see the yellow jacket still drilling into my skin. I did an awkward dance to shake him off as I emitted a yell. Ouch! I hadn’t been stung by a bee in a long time but this pain, too, was vaguely familiar from long ago. With a slight limp, Jeter and I finished our walk and returned home.
Ah, 59. You’ve begun in a most stinging fashion. Thanks for the reminder that life does not come without the chance of pain.
Heard.
Regardless, I’ll take it. All of it.
DelSo 
I see my dermatologist annually. (I have vitiligo and am susceptible to skin cancer.) Nothing on that front, but I do have some “tags” (essentially little stalactites) on my neck and back. Yes, they are frozen off, and it does hurt!
It’s always good to catch something early – and I’ll never take having good health insurance for granted.
I get it .
Sounds unpleasant! Consider yourself lucky, though, that yellowjacket/wasp venom doesn’t send you into anaphylactic shock. After experiencing that myself last year (ON OUR BIRTHDAY of all days… the nerve of that wasp!), I am now about to embark on extensive allergy testing and “exposure therapy” to try to build up my immunity. NO FUN.
Omg – I forgot about that! Surprise (birthday!!!) allergies sound dreadful. Hope you get this stuff figured out.
I turn 71 next month. Both sides of my nose have had basil cell carcinoma removed and many spots frozen off. All we had was Coppertone suntan lotion when I was a kid
Oh my goodness! My cousin has a similar history to your own and his experiences prompted me to move my appointment to a sooner date. I’m committed to being more consistent with my sunscreen!