Jim is very fair skinned, and develops a lot of growths that require freezing with liquid nitrogen. Up until today, there have been two squamous cell carcinomas that required removal. Today was number three, and was done via a Mohs procedure. Basically, they excavate until they see clear margins with no cancer cells. Thank the gods and goddesses there was only one excavation required, there is a lot of waiting on the part of the patient while they prepare the tissue sample and then look at it. Worse, it was waiting in a small room, with other people, on terrible furniture, no air circulation and no HEPA filter. We were masked, they weren't. It was on the scalp. Scalp wounds bleed like stuck pigs under the best of circumstances, but Jim is on blood thinners, so it bled a lot. So, he's on house arrest for a few days to clot thoroughly and not ooze. Next time, we're holding Plavix before doing one of these. Please make a note of it.
This is Jim with a pressure bandage on his head. I have decided to spare you all the picture of the later bleeding, even though it was impressive.
On the way home we saw this. It's blurry, moving car and the phone could not decide where to focus. The question is always, how do people get up enough speed to do this on busy streets with stop lights every block? How does this happen? This car is totaled.
Yesterday we rode from the house. The weather was not all that inspiring, and so we did not load the bikes and drive them up to the ball fields. This is the entrance to Christopher Columbus park, it's a nice looking tree. Notice the cloud cover.
So, that's what we did today, it was exhausting.
I bet he rear ended that pick up truck being towed, too. I watched this kind of accident happen. Truck made a right hand turn onto the road I was on, had a clear block ahead and sped up to beat the light. But the traffic didn't move as expected and blam, he hit the car behind me and pushed it into my car.
ReplyDeletePoor guy. It's strange they didn't tell him to stop blood thinners. Hope he heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteMy dad wasn't on blood thinners but had a number of those surgeries due to his fair skin, summers working for the Forest Service with no sun protection and subsequent skin cancer issues. Not a fun day for you. :(
ReplyDeleteBeing too white does have drawbacks. I empathize. The Wyoming sun and wind were not friends to me. Arizona i s not good for y’all, obviously. Better move to Bellingham… dark most of the time.
ReplyDeleteBlood thinners scare me. Stay well you biker people, go back to the north…Linda sue
Hurry up and wait is always exhausting, whether at the medical facility or the airport. There is no way to get comfortable at either. Glad Jim's procedure went well, and I do hope the wound heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I feel for Jim. I've had some growths removed myself and it is never fun. (I don't have the added drama of the blood thinners, though -- not yet, anyway.) I think some people steal cars with the explicit goal of racking them up. How they manage to do it without killing themselves is always a wonder.
ReplyDeleteYou were at least fortunate to be able to wait for the results there and then...saving quite a few sleepless nights
ReplyDeleteAt first glance I thought Jim was wearing a Yamaka for the holidays! Sorry, not nice to laugh at his bleeding, hope it stopped soon after your got home. Happy Christmas to you both...
ReplyDeleteI forgot to not take the eliquis the night before and the morning of getting my toenail removed. that fucker bled and bled. he had a hard time getting it to stop with whatever the black shit was he was dabbing it with. I'm surprised they did the tissue sample there. the three times I've had that done they sent it off and I had to come back in twice for a little more digging.
ReplyDeleteBarry has had a squamous cell and a basal cell removed, but no MOHs procedures for either. I've had a basal cell. Seems to go with the territory of being outdoorsy cyclists, gardeners, and of course we lived in Belize and Mexico and Florida for a bit! His head looks a lot like Jim's (i.e., hair challenged), so he never goes without a hat and hasn't for years, but the damage is cumulative. Skin cancer is one reason I'm glad we don't live as far south any more. NC is bad enough for sunshine. Hope he has healed up!
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