I, like my siblings, have many moles. I went to the Dr. a few weeks ago to have one checked out on my leg. He said it was fine and to just keep an eye on it. While I was there, I had him look at some others that were large and annoying. They ranged in size from 3mm to 6mm diameter, were raised, and dark brown. He said they looked fine (non-malignant) but since they were so large and raised, it would be a good idea to have them removed. Good, that's why I brought them up in the first place. I made an appointment for Jan, 29 at 10:00a.m.
I really like my Dr. here in Clay Center. When I first moved here I was apprehensive about the quality of care I might receive. I have to say, I've always been impressed. For example, in my past experiences if my appointment is at 9:00 a.m. the nurse didn't call me back until 10:30a.m. Then I waited in the examining room until 11:30 before I even see the Dr. Once the Dr. is in the room she would spend 5minutes with me and off she'd go. That never happens with my new Dr. His office is usually on time, and they call and let me know when he's running late . If I'm already there and he's running late, I usually only have to wait 5-10minutes past my appointment time before they call me back. Usually Dr. comes into the exam room soon after the nurse leaves. He takes his time to ask about past ailments and how I am doing. He also likes to visit about everyday things. (He really is a talker anyway, he comes to our office and I usually clean his teeth. It's hard to get anything done because we both talk so much.) I really appreciate that my time is not wasted and I feel like he cares about my health.
I had five moles to be removed, one on my neck, one on my left upper arm, one on my right arm/armpit area, and two on my abdomen. It went something like this. He swabbed with alcohol, numbed a mole, cut it off, swabbed again, used a machine that cauterized the area (it reminded me of a bug zapper, and I did get a slight shock), swabbed again, and applied a bandaid. Pretty easy, except one on my abdomen he almost forgot to numb. He was talking, had the scalpel and started toward a mole on my side. I knew he hadn't numbed that so I asked, "aren't you going to numb that?" He did and it was fine. I'm glad I was paying attention. I really don't like pain.
Dr. asked if I wanted to send the moles for biopsy. I asked him what he thought. He said they are not malignant. (He's probably cut off tons of moles and I'm sure malignant ones are a lot different than non-malignant). I told him no, I agreed they probably didn't need biopsy. He showed me the now-removed moles. They sure look a lot different on a piece of bloody gauze than they did on my body.
It was nothing to have the moles removed and it really doesn't even hurt after. Some co-workers I'd told about having the moles removed made it sound like it was horrible. Especially the needle/shot. Big babies. Sure, it wasn't pleasant but I've had worse things happen before. Oh, and my appointment was at 10:00 a.m. and I was starting my truck and leaving at 11:07 a.m.
