Skin Cancer's No Joke

Didn't see this coming.

I made an appointment with a dermatologist because, three weeks ago, I noticed an odd little growth on the side of my head. The derm looks at it for three seconds and says, "Oh, that's nothing. That's just a something-something. It will go away on its own. Let's take a look at you while you are here. You sure are a mole-y son of a gun, aren't you?"

Anyway, after a five-to-ten-minute examination, she lets me know there is something of grave concern on my left arm. A thing that *could* be indicative of skin cancer. "We don't want to wait to have this removed," she says. "Let's get it out today."

Next thing you know, I'm under the knife and getting multilayers of stitches because she removed the malformity so deeply. Mid-slice she says, "Now, no golfing for at least a week."

So much for that late afternoon tee-time I had scheduled.

At least my mug-to-mouth ability is still intact.

Moral of the story? I'm not sure. I suppose it's to get checked out even if you don't have a growth on the side of your head. Skin cancer's no joke.

Oh, also, if you have moles that become asymmetric and/or discolored across their width (like the one in the pic), make an appointment with a dermatologist today.