Wednesday 5 July 2006

Pic of the day: To protect the innocent, here is instead a picture of Misa (Misha) from the anime Kamisama Kazoku ("The God Family").

Doctor again

As agreed after my previous appointment, I went to see my doctor at nine in the morning. Since the bus doesn't go directly from here to there, I had to get up a couple hours earlier. I guess that doesn't break any human rights, but I can also say safely that I wasn't built to get up at this time. Still, I managed to get there on time, and even have a full workday afterwards.

My doctor remember that I had an appointment, but he didn't remember why. This is actually a good thing, because he had forgotten his idea that I needed to take another blood test to check my hormone levels. (There is absolutely nothing to indicate that my hormone levels have changed since last summer. Perhaps doctors are getting kickbacks or something, although that doesn't sound like the Norwegian way.) Instead I reminded him of the other reason for the appointment: My dark birthmark. We also agreed to amputate a small lump of meat that grew on a thin stalk on my lower back. It has been slowly growing for years, and I suppose that sooner or later it would break off, drenching my clothes in blood in the process. So I might as well remove it now.

The doctor also pointed out several other harmless protrusions from my skin which he thought I might want to have removed. I didn't. Looking good is not a concern for me. I don't have any further career plans, and I am never going to have sex. Why would I care how I look? If people want prettiness, they can buy flowers.

Cutting off the protrusion on my back was quick and easy. He could probably have done it without the numbing chemicals he injected right under the skin. I am not particularly sensitive to pain as long as I know it is harmless. The dark birthmark on my stomach was a more complicated affair, though. Since there was suspicion of cancer, he had to remove some of the surrounding tissue, not just around but also under the birthmark. This bled more than he had expected, but it was really just a trickle, it was not as if I lost cups of the vital fluid. And eventually he managed to sew it shut.

I now have an appointment in nine days to remove the suture. I guess I won't be able to use the shower to keep cool for the next few days (there is a bad heat wave here in southern Norway these days). But it is worth it. Having lost one parent to malign melanoma, I think a little discomfort is a quite reasonable price to pay.