Thanks, Parents!

A couple of months ago, I noticed a pink bug-bite looking bump on my back. It was really weird because it had a red ring around it. I showed it to The Farmer, and we both agreed that it looked strange. After a couple of days it changed from looking like a bump to looking like a flat, pink surface -- kind of like a scrape that has had the scab ripped off too early. Again, I thought it was weird. This time I showed it not only to The Farmer but also to my mom.

We all thought that it was a strange looking thing, and none of us could really figure out where it came from. I thought about getting it checked out if it stuck around.

But, I never did get it checked. I would think about calling and get sidetracked. I would think about calling and decide to do it later. I just kept putting it off.

Then last week I was reading a Parents magazine from last May, and I came to an article on skin cancer. I didn't actually read the article, but it had some pictures and facts about the different types of skin cancer. One of the pictures looked pretty similar to that spot on my back.

I made an appointment with my dermatologist that day. When I went to my appointment, he said that the spot did look suspicious, and he shaved part of it off. He said that he hoped it would be nothing, and he would call me by the end of the week to let me know the results.

The dermatologist called me this morning with the news: basal cell carcinoma. So, it is a skin cancer, and I have to go back next week to get the rest of it taken off.

I am extremely thankful that it isn't melanoma, and I am thankful that the Parents article made me finally go get the spot checked out (and how crazy is it that I just happened to read that old magazine...).

So, my lesson to you is to go get any weird spots checked. You never know what they could be! And wear sunscreen!