Monday, August 26, 2013

My Cryogenic Surgery

Last Friday, John had an appointment with our dermatologist for his six-month full body check-up.  (I only need an annual check-up because I'm "boring" as they say in the business -- which is a good thing.)
Once he was finished and had received a clean bill of health -- he's to have another once-over in six months and if that too is clear he will also be moved to annual check-ups -- I asked the doctor to take a look at a spot on my arm that was causing me some concern.
I had originally thought it was a mosquito bite but it didn't go away.
She took a look and at first glance she said it was nothing.
Until I explained that every so often, it would be bleeding when I got out of the shower.
"Oops, shades of that spot on my nose," I thought.
So she took a closer look and decided to zap it with her handy dandy freezing tool. ("Cryogenic surgery" it's called.)
She had just used it on two spots on John, and she said it's her "go-to" answer for everything.  If she's not sure, she freezes it.
She didn't give us any special instructions or tell us what to expect as a result of having had this procedure done.  (John has had it done numerous times in the past, both by his family doctor and by our dermatologist.)
Fast forward to Sunday, and this is what my arm is sporting:
Now this is located right in the fold of my arm in line with my elbow.
Never has John had this kind of a response.  I don't know what to think of this development.
Fortunately, it finally broke late yesterday afternoon (a few hours after the above photo was taken).  I can only assume that it broke from its own internal pressure.
I have no idea if this is a "normal" response to cryogenic treatment, but we're going to take a copy of the photo to our next visit with the doctor.
Just in case she has difficulty believing what we will be trying to tell her.

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