Biopsies of biopsies: The results beget more results...

Well folks, it was quite an interesting dermatological day. First thing this morning I had an appointment to get the results from the 3 biopsies I had two weeks ago. Apparently, the cells and their structure were atypical enough to be of concern, so the lab wanted a larger and deeper sample from the two sites on my back. They need those tissues to determine exactly what is going on and how severe it is. We know it's not basal cell carcinoma, so the dermatologist told me they're looking for melanoma. Good to know.

Anyway, getting larger and deeper tissue samples means.... surprise! More stitches! Wow, in the past 6 weeks I've had 4 incisions in October, 3 in November and now 2 more (so far!) in December. Fun! The dermatologist used the punch method and removed 8mm deep of tissue to be sent off to the lab. So now I have 6 more stitches on two sites, and they were both bleeders too! It was pretty funny to have the bleeding issue again. He actually used a cauterizing tool to help stop it along with a pressure bandage. Thank God for local anesthesia, you know what I'm sayin'?

So the other thing Derma #5 laid on me today was the fact that he's moving to a practice in Mississauga. Man! I'm going through dermatologists like dirty shirts. So now he's handed me off to his colleague for my results and stitches removal in two weeks (Dec. 22nd - merry Christmas!).

Next up today was my appointment that was set waaaaay back in October with the dermatologist at the private clinic who took the lacklustre pictures of my skin (see here for a refresher on that episode). Today's appointment was supposed to be the review of those photos.

First of all, it took almost two months to get this appointment at the private clinic - and I paid to have those photos taken and for the meeting with the dermatologist today. So much for private health care, it sucks as much as the public kind in Canada! Second of all, he HAD NOT EVEN LOOKED at the photos. Great - so what did I pay you for? Third, when he saw that I had recent scars and bandages from this morning, he pretty much brushed me off. Wait a second buddy! I'm paying for your time! I managed to get him to look my skin over, and he only mentioned the lesion on my foot as something to keep an eye on. All in all, he spent at most 10 minutes with me - didn't ask me any health-related questions, hadn't reviewed my photos and pretty much rushed out the door. So much for Derma #6. Forget me going to see him again!

So, here I am with two fresh wounds, more biopsy results to wait for, and two more weeks of chemo to go over Christmas (starting Dec. 15th). I'm having to get to know a new dermatologist - again - and I don't even know if she's going to be any good. Oh well, I guess we're starting from scratch (no pun intended!)

Anyway, I'm not quite bummed but a wee bit frustrated. A bit of retail therapy after work did help, and now I'm off to eat popcorn and watch guilty TV. Tomorrow will be a better day!

12 Days After Latest Biopsies

Hello everyone!

It's been 12 days since my latest biopsies, and I've also completed my first round of chemo special cream. I'm to take two weeks off the treatment, then on Dec. 15 I'll start my last two weeks. This coming Wednesday I'll get the results from the biopsies, and have the doctor look at how I'm healing. The poor stitches on my inner thigh keep opening up and bleeding, and I think it's when I cross my legs as I get a tearing kind of pain when I do that and don't realise I'm doing it. The ones on my back are taking their time to heal, and are sore. So, since there's nothing interesting to report, I thought I would post some more  recent pictures! These I just took tonight; which was hard because I'm home alone. Try taking a picture of a certain part of your back all by yourself!!!

Remember, the two on my back were removed by a method they call "scraping", but it was more like meat carving. The one on my thigh was removed using a "punch" (which created a deep circle hole) and the circle was closed with stitches. Here they are today:



Thigh, 12 days after punch removal



Two on back, 12 days after scraping removal

So you can see that the bruise on my thigh is gone, and it was pretty cool to watch as it changed colours: purple, yellow, blue, green... bruises are very fascinating things. Why yellow? Why blue? Is my blood a rainbow of colours??? The stitches are holding up, but I'm not sure they're going to be ready to be removed on Wednesday. We'd better be ready for a repeat session of the bleeding if the doctor decides to take the stitches out! You can also see that the two on my back are healing, but they're kinda sore.

So, I'll post back again on Wednesday with the results of the biopsies, and the plan for ongoing assessment. Thanks for reading, and talk soon!