Skin Scan

Tuesday was my annual skin check with my dermatologist. It had been three years since any skin cancer was detected, and I had graduated to only having to come in once a year. Well, my lucky streak has probably come to an end. There were a couple of spots in my hair that I wanted the doctor to take a look at, and she decided that both of them needed to be biopsied. As they gave me the shots to numb the area, I kept feeling it when they would stick me to see if it was numb. After three shots in each location, the technician had the doctor come in to give it a try. I still felt her stick as well.

As it ends up, people who have red hair or highlights (that's me with the red highlights and my mom was a redhead) need more lidocaine when having procedures done. This certainly has always been true for me. The doctor said there is a world-wide shortage of lidocaine right now, and it's been hard to get their hands on the higher dosage shots. She went from room to room in the clinic until she located one for me. And sure enough, the extra dosage worked like a charm and she was able to snip the samples she needed.

Now I just have to wait to see what the lab results say. That may take up to two weeks. With my history, I'm fairly certain that it will not be good news. But at least this time the scars will be hidden by my hair. Red highlights and all.