NorthernLight of Bluster

[ismo]

I had to get up way too early to buzz off to my yearly full-body scan by the dermatologist. I took the back way because I like it, even though the winding road that advertises itself as a National Beauty Road or some such overblown designation is still not very beautiful. It's all bare branches and crusts of snow. And drivers who were on their way to work and wanted to go 40 mph even though it's specifically a 25 mph zone, and that's why I picked it. The dermatologist's office is very new and lovely and posh, because it's a place for rich people to get their sleek pampered skin rejuvenated! But the doctor also sees a certain number of old crocks who need to have their bumps and dents checked. So we enjoy the luxurious accommodations under false pretenses. The doctor is actually a very nice, friendly young guy who tries to be reassuring while examining my elderly flesh in some detail. He had to sandblast three or four actinic keratoses off my face with the liquid nitrogen. It feels kind of like a bee sting, though maybe not quite as bad. It does add to the general aggravation. However, I consider it a benefit. My parents both had to have multiple MOHS surgeries for various skin cancers in their eighties. My hope is that by blasting away any cancer probes now, I'll avoid the actual invasion later. That seems like a good deal. Also, the beautiful thing about west Michigan is that every professional office likes to adorn itself with lovely paintings and photographs of the Lake Michigan shore, and I enjoy that.

Once I got home, I didn't feel really great for the rest of the day. The insult to my pelt didn't seem significant enough to cause that, so who knows. We zoomed with Deb and the Prussian, who are recuperating from four days without power. For some reason we spent a lot of time talking about coffee! Maybe we all needed some. I know I did.

I fixed what I'm beginning to think of as our diner dinner on Fridays. On this occasion it was potato and onion hash, mushroom and cheese omelet, sliced tomatoes and steamed broccoli. We were staying home in anticipation of this big ol' winter storm we're supposed to be having. So far, we've had but a sprinkling of snow. It has all gone south of us and is blizzarding away on poor Deb and the Prussian again, and our kids Tron and the Lumberjack.

Comments

[oracne]

When I went to the dermatologist worrying over what turned out to be actinic keratoses, they told me to leave them alone. Should I get blasted? Maybe I should ask again.

[ismo]

Well, I suppose you don't HAVE to. The dermatologist said there's about a one percent risk per year that they could become squamous cell cancer. But you do have a lot of years ahead of you--I hope--and if you just zap them, they can't grow up to be troublesome. I figure it's worth a bit of trouble now to evade more later. Also, they were on my face, and looked slightly scabby, so I was not averse to getting rid of them.

There is another thing called seborrheic keratoses, which are not pre-cancerous, so they don't bother with them at all, and I have a good many of those, too.

[oracne]

I should probably go again, anyway. I've only been once, for a baseline review.