This is a story AND a warning for all...This post is a little different from my usual stuff... I have learned a LOT about "moles" in the past few days... and I don't mean the squinty eyed little furry creatures... I mean just regular ol ordinary little brown spots on your body... I think everyone probably has a couple.
This whole mole thing started early in December as Trent was getting his physical stuff done for his mission papers. During his physical the doctor noticed a mole on his back. He said it had a little black speck on it. He circled it with a pen and said show your mom... I want to remove it.
Soo.... Trent showed me and I thought to myself... it looks just like a regular ol mole... he's probably just being cautious.
So Trent had it removed... I thought he would have maybe two stitches... I mean... the mole was only just a little larger than a quarter inch...
So I was surprised when he came home with 6 stitches!
WARNING... GRAPHIC PIC OF STITCHES... I made it small so it wouldn't be too gross...
So... I kind of didn't think too much about it after that...
Then 2 1/2 weeks later came the phone call...
The pathology report said the mole was cancerous... at first it didn't sink in... I just thought... cancerous.... I certainly wasn't expecting that... I'm sure glad they took it out....
then the voice continued to say... something about a surgeon... cutting it back open... I've already checked your insurance... here is the doctor's name and number.. I'm faxing the report to her now... call right away!
NOT words a mom wants to hear... I didn't handle it very well... so I wanted more info ...so I looked on the internet... NOT a good idea....
So today we went to see a surgeon... not as bad as I expected.... we are VERY lucky. What they are concerned about are the abnormal cells that showed up in the tissue that wasn't part of the mole. If the cells in the tissue were full out cancerous, that would have been WAY WAY more serious and would have required WAY more serious treatment. So in this procedure Trent will have to have three times more tissue removed... but she will be able to do it in the office... only cuz Trent is a tough guy... and he will have to be very careful of that area for a long time until the skin can get some stretch back in it. He will also have to have some other moles removed after this.
Sooo.... this definitely puts off turning in his mission papers for a while... which we are VERY bummed about... but I am grateful for a keen eyed doctor that spotted the mole!
SOOOO besides being able to put my feelings about this on the blog... I have a sense of urgency to tell EVERYONE to go get your moles checked... REALLY!! I just had no idea what could happen.
The procedure is Wednesday... Trent wants me to be in the room with him... to take pictures!! I don't know if that will happen... but if it does... be ready for a VERY interesting blog post!!!
5 comments:
Oh wow that is really scary. I'll say an extra prayer for Trent on Wednesday.
Thank You! We definitely need prayers!
Moles are very serious, we always had to have Andrew's checked. He's had several removed since he was young. How long will this postpone putting in the mission papers? I'm just so glad they caught it now. We'll also keep you in our prayers. Hope everything goes well.
It will be at least two weeks til the stitches come out... He has to get in and get the other suspicious moles removed and wait for lab results... and get his medical forms back from the doctor when he gives him the clean bill of health... so we are hoping for only a month (I hope not much longer than that) of getting all this taken care of, but we will see!
Is it basil cell? I have scars on my shoulder, forearm, and nose (the worst) because of that. But they always got it all the first time, no more digging. So sorry for Trent. After what I've gone through....you'd think my kids would stay out of the sun and use sunscreen more often.
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