For as long as I could remember, I had a mole on the back of me leg. I was never really concerned about it because I have freckles so to me it was just a larger freckle. Well, back in 2008 my friend Angi posted something about a discolored toenail she was concerned about. I looked into what she was talking about and become concerned about the mole. I went to my mom (a nurse for 25+ years) and told her that I thought it was melanoma. She wasn't concerned and said that it wasn't anything. So I forgot about it and that was that. Well, that is until June 2011.
While running the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in June, I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs and I paid for it with second degree burns. When I made it home, my oh-so-loving mother was there to take care of me. While she was draining my blisters, spreading burn cream on my legs, and wrapping them in gauze she saw my mole. She asked me about it and I told her that it had been there for as long as I could remember and she said that it never looked like that before. (Just so y'all know, the mole was not on part of my leg that got sunburned.) She told me that when my legs healed she wanted me to set up an appointment with the dermatologist to have it looked at, I said okay.
I pushed off setting up the appointment and my mom kept the pressure on me telling me I needed to have it looked at and it needed to be done before my insurance ran up at the end of August when I would be removed from their plan since I would be turning 26 early that month. I made it to the dermatologist on August 3 where the mole was examined by the Dr, who said "Does it look like melanoma? No, but I want to be sure so we are going to go ahead and remove it." I left the appointment feeling confident that it was nothing.
Two weeks later I received a phone call from my Dr. I didn't think it was strange that she was calling because she sounded so chipper. Then she spilled the beans and told me that it did come back positive for melanoma. She told me that I would need to have surgery to have it removed and that she would be referring me to another doctor to perform the surgery because she felt he did a better job when it came to the leg and would leave minimal scarring. I explained my insurance situation to her and they were able to get me in for the surgery just in the nick of time, August 31.
My initial biopsy was about the size of a dime and for the surgery they had to remove about 5mm around the initial spot. He partially closed it with a purse string stitch by going around the wound weaving the stitch in and out and then pulled it tight, reducing the size of the opening but leaving a hole the size of a small egg. Two weeks later they called and told me that they had removed all the cancerous cells.
I felt relieved but at the same time I need to go to the oncologist. I need to be sure that it didn't spread and that nothing was missed. I mean, yes, the Dr. told me I was in the clear but we're all human right? No harm in double checking.
The biggest frustration of this whole thing was that I have never been one to tan so I never laid out in the sun or went to tanning beds, and I almost always wear jeans during the summer. I have childish moments saying its not fair, but cancer does not discriminate. And although I didn't tan easily, I can recall burning pretty badly a few times. So for all of you that have had a serious burn once in their life, lay in the sun or use tanning beds on a regular basis, please keep an eye on your skin! If you see a mole that is changing shape and color, contact a dermatologist. There is no harm in having it looked at. It's better to be safe than sorry.
