For those of you who always wondered how those shirts at the store are always folded so neatly …

I found out a couple weeks ago during an annual checkup that I had melanoma on the back of my upper right leg. After a trip to the dermatologist and a biopsy, it was confirmed. I was scheduled Monday to have Mohs surgery where they cut the melanoma out, including an area around and below it. The perimeter was the size of a half dollar, and the flesh was cut down to the fat layer.

Why am I putting this on my blog? To educate you. First, I learned that it’s hereditary. Although we have no knowledge of anyone in my family who has had melanoma, I have the gene. This means that my kids have the gene, and their kids will have it, and so on. Hey, don’t blame me. I got it from someone else …

The good news is that it was caught early, and all the melanoma cancer cells have been removed.

It was scary, though. Especially since I didn’t know how long it had been there, and after being told that it can get into the blood system and travel to the bone marrow, liver, brain, etc. (you get the picture). Worst of all … if it travels, it can be deadly. But not to worry, I’m going to live 🙂

The procedure was this:

I was sent to a dermatologist who scraped a layer and sent it for biopsy. It was confirmed that it was melanoma so an appointment was made with a mohs surgeon (Dr. Zelac) at Scripps. On Monday, Dr. Zelac removed the mole and surrounding area. I was bandaged up and sent home, while the extracted mole and surrounding area was sent to the lab for further biopsy to make sure everything was removed. I returned Wednesday and was told the surgery was a success, and then I was prepared to be stitched back up. I didn’t get a picture of the mole before it was removed, but I took pictures of the large hole (of which you will not see below).

The pictures below are my view of the stitching up procedure, which took a lot longer than the extraction procedure. Using my better judgment, I did not include the 2 pictures I took of the large hole in my leg before it was stitched. The last picture below isn’t too gory, but I’ll warn you now in case you don’t want to scroll down all the way (but it’s really not too bad, just a stitched-up wound).

So, if you are one of my blood relatives (especially kids, nieces & nephews), depending on what side of the family this gene came from, you may be susceptible to getting melanoma. I was told it is very common to get these on the legs, although they can pop up anywhere. If caught early, it can be extracted and chances of a reoccurrence are low.

What can you do? Wear sunscreen to protect yourself from UV rays (Ron – the top of your head!!), stay away from tanning booths & check yourself often for uneven moles that are dark in color, or anything new. Don’t take any chances because if caught early, this can be curable.

Here’s the view from where I observed the procedure, and the last picture is the scar, which is about 3″ long. As I said below, there isn’t anything too gory here, but the last picture is of the final, stitched up area.

The staff at Scripps was wonderful! This is Linda, one of the nurses.

And the final picture, all stitched up & ready to go …