I begin to sense a theme.
They refer us to a pediatric surgeon. Mischief and I go visit him. He is very nice - but she is stressed that he is going to start cutting on her right there in the office. He tells me it will be a simple, easy procedure. . .he can do it right there in the office without anything but a numbing shot if I want.
I decide he might be crazy. I tell him that. . .no. No. no. No. If the mole is coming off, she is going to be asleep. This is my child. . .mine. . .with my skin and my moles and she will need to visit the derm for the rest of her life on a regular basis and no. No. NO. . .she will not be traumatized by this.
We will schedule a surgery, she will go to sleep, she will wake up with a bandaid and some tylonol and NO memories of any pain or of being scared.
And so that is what we do. I am pretty sure he thought I was crazy. But he wasn't the first person to think so. . .and he won't be the last.
The day of the surgery, she is so brave. Drama Queen goes with us to the surgery center and is a fantastic big sister. We talk about the special mask and the stinky air that will make her go to sleep. She puts on her funny gown and I put on my funny gown and I walk her into surgery. She lays on the table and I hold her hand until she is asleep. .. I kiss her little cheek and tell her I'll see her soon. And then I walk out and I wait.
I know it wasn't more than 30 minutes before they come tell us she is out, and fine, and will be waking up soon. . .but it seems like forever. I sit there and try not to panic that something has gone wrong. . but everything is fine.
Except for the fact that she woke up with an IV port in her hand. . .She hated that. But once we got it out, she was good to go. And hungry. . .that child is always hungry. We stopped on the way home and she ate a cheeseburger and fries and a milkshake. Yes I know. . .nothing but the healthiest food for my child.
2 comments:
Nor sure if you know my family history but my Dad died of Melanoma when he was 38. I am incredibly vigilant about mole checks on myself, Chris and Jazz and even more vigilant about the sunscreen.
I'm so glad that you caught this in time for both of you. And for what it's worth, I would have had Jazz put under as well to excise a mole. I completely get your justification for that.
I didn't know that Carrie. . .I can't imagine how hard that must have been. I don't have any family history, but am just a high risk skin type (fair and moley. . .moley. . .moley). I'm all about the sunscreen - I'm pretty sure my year round make up is SPF 50.
It was quite the odyssey, but I'm very glad we caught it all in time. I've been moved up to 6 month exams and Mischief is starting annuals. Early Detection!!!
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