I hadn't actually planned on posting anything about this, but I'm anxious this morning and thought maybe this would help.
When I was 13/14 my mom was diagnosed with melanoma and ended up having surgery to remove it. After the surgery and years of testing and checks, she's cured. Doing monthly self checks and going to the dermo yearly has been pounded into me. Yesterday I went to the the dermotologist for my yearly mole/skin check. I expected it to be like every other time and have them tell me 'see you next year'. But they took two moles for biopsies and, of course, I won't get the results for two weeks.
When they told me what they were going to do, I started to cry a little. I think I freaked out the resident that was working on me. She asked me if I didn't want to do it or should they call someone for me. I told her I have an anxiety disorder and this is what I do when I'm scared. So she should do what she needs to do and I'll do what I need to do.
I'm trying to keep positive thoughts in the front of my mind. Even the doctor said that it's very routine for them to take moles for biopsies. And with my mom having had skin cancer, they said they wanted to be extra cautious. OK, fine...I can deal with that. It's the waiting that is a real bitch for me. That and cancer is a trigger for my anxiety. I guess it doesn't make me a coward to admit that this whole thing scares me. My husband told me not to worry until there's something to worry about. Yeah babe...wish it could be that easy.
Lisa
When I was 13/14 my mom was diagnosed with melanoma and ended up having surgery to remove it. After the surgery and years of testing and checks, she's cured. Doing monthly self checks and going to the dermo yearly has been pounded into me. Yesterday I went to the the dermotologist for my yearly mole/skin check. I expected it to be like every other time and have them tell me 'see you next year'. But they took two moles for biopsies and, of course, I won't get the results for two weeks.
When they told me what they were going to do, I started to cry a little. I think I freaked out the resident that was working on me. She asked me if I didn't want to do it or should they call someone for me. I told her I have an anxiety disorder and this is what I do when I'm scared. So she should do what she needs to do and I'll do what I need to do.
I'm trying to keep positive thoughts in the front of my mind. Even the doctor said that it's very routine for them to take moles for biopsies. And with my mom having had skin cancer, they said they wanted to be extra cautious. OK, fine...I can deal with that. It's the waiting that is a real bitch for me. That and cancer is a trigger for my anxiety. I guess it doesn't make me a coward to admit that this whole thing scares me. My husband told me not to worry until there's something to worry about. Yeah babe...wish it could be that easy.
Lisa