Tuesdays Unwrapped

1.5 - The number seemed quite harmless to me at 5:00 last Tuesday afternoon as I sat in the Dermatologist office.  Around 5:30 I learned that it is indeed more than just an ordinary number, in this case and could in fact be harmful if left alone.  The nurse told us this number after using  a camera/computer called the MelaFind {Click here to read more about it} to take a picture of a mole on my back.  The MelaFind has been trained to scan moles and give them a score which dermatologists use to determine whether or not it should be removed.  So, I sat on the operating table and tried to figure out what 1.5 could possible mean while the Dermatologists discussed what to do.  By the time the doctor came back in I had convinced myself that 1.5 must be good and 10 must be the worst.  Not so.  Negative 1.5 would have been great, but anything above 0 is suspicious.  1.5 was just too high to mess around.  It would have to go.  So, in came the plastic surgeon.  Off went the mole.  Into the lab it went.  We were sent home with stitch cutters to remove the stitches in 10 - 14 days.  I assumed that this mole would be like the last one I had removed.  Still small and non-cancerous.  No big deal.  We wouldn't have to come back here again.

That point where I try to find an image to go here.  Grace is a fitting word.

Three days later my mom called the Dermatologist, 'hello, I'm calling to see if you have lab results for my daughter.  The dermatologist said it would be 1 -2 days before we heard back.'   The lady on the other end said all the doctors are with one patient and we will have to wait.  A few minutes later the doctor called and my dad answered.  Then, my dad asked my mom and I to come into the living room.  Not the best sign in the world.  Turns out, the dermatologists and lab people looked at it for quite awhile {yes, I find that a bit weird that their were several people thoroughly checking something that had once been attached to me} and found a slight sign of a melanoma.  Now, before you jump to conclusions that I probably use a tanning bed, let me inform you that I have NEVER used a tanning bed and I don't plan on ever using one.  There is a family history of melanomas and I inherited the genes.  What a great thing to get from your father and grandfather, right?  I really don't have time to write about the family history thing and I think my mom did a fine job of writing about it, so if you want to read more about it, go read her post.  Anyhow, because their was a sign of melanoma, they have to remove more skin around the spot.  So, I will be going in for surgery.  This morning at 11:00.  I would greatly appreciate your prayers.

I'm linking up with Emily Freeman {author of one of my favorite books, Graceful} today in Tuesdays Unwrapped.

So today, I've tried to find some things to unwrap here.  Some things that may seem messy and turn out to be unexpected gifts.  Turns out, there are quite a few.  I mean, my grandfather almost died from skin cancer when my dad was a little kid.  My dad had a melanoma and didn't know until a kind nurse pointed it out and told him to go get it checked out.  The dermatologists wanted to 'keep an eye' on my mole, but they decided that since it will be 2 or 3 years until we come back, they needed to go ahead and 'MelaFind' it and remove it.  I'm so glad they did.  This would have been a much bigger deal had they waited.  And, I'm thankful for dermatologists who were used by God so that I still have a family.

To read Tuesdays unwrapped posts from Emily Freeman and others, click here.  You can also join in - its super easy.  This is my first time to do anything like this and it wasn't very hard.  If you want to know how to do this, click here.