The spot on my forehead
As is often the case with medical matters, the small brown spot on my forehead goes by a name so clinically opaque that no alarm bell went off when it was first uttered: dyplastic nevus.
That’s “atypical mole” to the rest of the world, but I didn’t know that until later. The nurse who delivered the information to me by phone was a little clearer as the conversation evolved. It was a “pre-cancerous lesion,” she eventually said. Because I tend to ask lots of questions when I don’t understand things, we finally got to the heart of the situation. My spot was what I have now come to refer as “melanoma in training.” Given just a little more time, it would have dropped the “pre” and become a major league nuisance.
The spot appeared a year or so ago. It was just suddenly there one day, not very impressive and not much different from the many other spots that freckle my body in various places. Doctors have looked at them before, with two of them removed and made the object of biopsies. In all cases, it was determined that I simply have an unnatural talent for growing very large freckles. So the spot on my head was taken, by me, simply as further evidence of that.
Two amateur clinicians had other ideas, however.
One of them was my daughter, whose mother died five years ago from metastatic melanoma and who herself has had some atypical moles removed. The other was my girlfriend, who’d had moles of her own checked at my urging. They didn’t team up, intervention-style, but the power of their collective concern was enough to do the trick. I finally made an appointment, and thus learned all about dysplastic nevi.
The spot is gone now, having been removed at the doctor’s office. But because it was a particularly nasty little lesion, I have to go back and have more skin removed, lest the melanoma wannabe resume its training regimen.
I also know how I’ll be spending the rest of my life: Smearing on the sunscreen and hearing alarm bells whenever I see any other random spot. But at least I can address it by name now.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:54 am
here’s hoping that this “Bad News Bear” stays on the bench.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Glad you didn’t ignore this, Dan.
I have a friend who lost his navel to one of those boogers!
September 18th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Dan, don’t ignore those little spots. I’m hear to tell you they can show up in places where the sun doesn’t shine. I had my melanoma removed 6 years ago this month. Another one behind my knee last summer. I see a dermatologist every 6 months for a full body scan for suspicious spots. The dentist, ophthalmologist, GYN, and my hair dresser all keep an eye out too. Remarkably the bottoms of our feet and between the toes are high risk areas mainly because the emphasis has been on the sun exposed areas of the skin. So take your girlfriend and daughter’s advice and be diligent if you see something unusual and it grows get to the doctor quickly - it is worth the peace of mind alone if they say - Oh, that one’s ok.
Best wishes you NEVER see anymore of these.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Now that you will be slathering on the sunscreen, I guess Ms. Williams at the N&O will have to update her diatribe against you. It will now read “puff up your pale skinny little chest”.
Good to see that your getting this stuff checked. I have a standing annual encounter with a dermatologist to check on my own propensity to grow large freckles.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Glad you had that ounce of prevention. Time to stock up on floppy hats.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Funny how if you re-arrange Doug’s innocent statement, it takes on whole new meaning - or maybe he’s trying to tell us something.
He writes:
“I have a standing annual encounter with a dermatologist to check on my own propensity (I’m getting finger cramps here) to grow large freckles.”
But if you put these words in a Yahtzee cup, shake vigoursly and toss ‘em back out on the page you might get:
“I have a annual encounter with a large, freckled dermatologist that checks my propensity to stand.”
I’m not sure what it all means, but I hear Doug’s contemplating semi-monthly encounters (er, appointments).
The Big C hits too close to home for all of us. What better refuge from a somber topic than lame, tasteless humor? And as it happens, I have some to share.
Gearino, ditto everybody else’s sentiments regarding your damned spot. It was a bit of a shock to me. The “…Spot on my forehead” title made me think you were sharing your personal joy of a recent conversion to Hinduism. No such luck - it was a suspicious freckle.
And on the subject of Ms Williams’ snide comments about your pecs; don’t let her get you down, Dan. You’re a much bigger person than is she - a bigger man if I may say.
Jeez, I wonder what you could come up with if you gave that grammarian’s nightmare the Yahtzee treatment?