biopsy and the selfie

Early September, I had an appointment with the dermatologist to look at a spot on my nose that had a tendency to bleed. Not often, maybe a couple times a year.

I had already been to her previously about it about 4 years ago. She looked at it and determined it to be a vein that had migrated to the surface. Sounded plausible to me. She gave it a shot of that freezey stuff and it went away. For over two years. But then it came back so I made another appointment.

She sliced it off and sent it in to be biopsied. The results were basal cell carcinoma and she wanted me back in for further treatment. I've had one of those before and have a small circular scar beside my nose under my right eye because the dermatologist I went to back then wanted to send me to a plastic surgeon to have it cut out and stitched up so it wouldn't leave a scar. I declined. This current one healed into a nice little divot on the end of my nose.

My follow-up appointment was Wednesday. Before the doctor came in, the nurse?, attendant?, said the doctor would either scrape and burn or use a medication and I needed to sign this consent form first. Personally, I thought going to the doctor to get treated was consent but, whatever.

Anyway, the doctor, who is a really nice young thing, came in and said there was still some bad tissue, that the biopsy had not got it all and I actually had three options...scrape and burn which would leave a bigger deeper divot on the tip of my nose, I could use a medication that costs $800 (yeah, that was my reaction too), or she could use a little tool to take a deeper plug out of my nose and then stitch it up which would leave a little line of a scar. The cost of that was barely more than my first visit with the biopsy.

So that is what she did. She injected the spot with a deadener, much like the dentist does, waited for it to numb up, used that little tool to extract a plug of tissue, and then stitched it up. Then she put a spot bandaid on it which wasn't doing a very good job since it was still weeping blood and the ends of the sutures were sticking out (I was holding a mirror).

She took the little bandaid off and I got a good look at her handiwork. I have a little spider with wonky legs. Seems appropriate for the season. I'll just tell everyone I got my nose pierced and this is my stud.

I told her I didn't need a bandaid, that I was fine but she insisted.

It will make me look bad if you walk through the waiting room bleeding.

Because a 3" long bandaid starting on my cheek and over my nose, tucked into my nostril, looks so much better.

But I can take this off, right?

Which I did as soon as I got in the car.