15 years ago, a bump first started to form on my back – the result of a huge zit that I had Greg squeeze the puss out of back when we were roommates in college. Over the years, I hadn’t really given much attention to it other than I knew eventually I’d have to remove it. I also had some skin tags I wanted to get removed, and since one of our family friends is battling some aggressive cancer started by a melanoma, I decided to head down to the dermatologist to get everything checked out. Now mind you, I thought they would just drain the cyst on my back and quickly make work of anything else, but boy was I in for a shock.
Some background – when I was in 7th grade I had two moles removed off my face in what I can vividly describe as one of the scariest and worst experiences of my life. Needless to say, I was nervous when I went into the office. The Dr. gave me a once over and said “Oh yeah the cyst has to go” and then her eyes lit up as she spotted a black mole on my back, “Yeah we should get this one too” and then she agreed that the skin tag would be a nice conclusion.
I knew they had to numb the area, but for some reason the skin tag felt like she was giving me an injection to my spine! When everything was numb they came back and started to hack away. I asked the nurse if she was using the dull edge of the knife cuz it felt like she was sawing at my tags rather than cutting them. She kept trying to make idle chatter with me which I obliges, save for the few moments I went, “Jesus what are you doing”. My cyst was pretty deep and turned out to be two on top of each other so in the end I required 10 stitches there and a couple on the mole and skin tag.
So now I am totally grossed out by it all and that has been the worst aspect of it. It itches constantly but doesn’t hurt. I just hate cleaning it out cuz I just get reminded of the fact I have them and I just don’t like that knowledge because it makes me squeamish. Work has been a bit of a pain with it since my mobility is slightly limited. I have discovered occasionally I will crack the scab and it will send a nice sharp zing to the nervous system, but so far so good.
The biggest obstacle has been applying Hydrogen Peroxide, Neosporin, and the bandages. Have you ever tried to do this in the mirror? It is not easy and almost everything on my bathroom counter gets knocked to the floor. You really know who your friends are when the offer to help. I would have been lost the first few days without them.
So now it is recovering nicely. July 7th I have an appointment to get the stitches taken out and I can’t wait!