That's two
I have had better weeks, and it's not over yet (these things are supposed to happen in threes, right?). It was an astonishing twist of fate that prior to my crash on Sunday, I was already booked into see a doctor this evening. There were no unexpected complications from the crash itself, but the reason for the visit was related to a longer term problem -- that someone with my pathetically weak skin happens to live in the skin cancer capital of the world.
To cut to the chase, at 9am on Friday morning I am having a melanoma (i.e. a skin cancer) cut out of my skin. Being a cyclist, of course, my first through was "oh no, there goes another weekend of riding" . The next thought was "this is probably going to hurt a little bit". Basically I'm going to be left with a scar to add to my burgeoning collection, and a couple of stitches probably for a week and a bit. I've only ever had one stitch put into my skin before, and I rate it considerably more painful than having a tooth pulled.
What's astonishing about the whole situation is this. The mole is on my back a little below my left shoulder. I never leave my apartment without a shirt on. I'll be making sure to ask my doctor about that on Friday, but if anyone else can shed some light on that in the mean time, I'd be very interested in finding out more. It may mean I have to be a little more selective in which fabrics I wear in future. It might also mean even more night riding -- when am I supposed to sleep?
I wrote in my journal over at bikejournal.com after Monday night's ride that I don't stay down for long. At 9am on Saturday morning, I meet up with an on line friend from Harvey Bay who is something of a celebrity over at crazyguyonabike.com. Basically if OLN or anyone else plans to make a documentary about cycle touring in South East Queensland, it would be in their interests to email me for more details. That should provide some inspiration.
Sunday Night I'm supposed to be taking a full moon night ride over the Beechmont Range to take in some stunning moonlit views, and I'm not ruling myself out of that yet. Somewhere in all this I'm also supposed to be training for a 400k randonee in Toowoomba on March 17. I'm going to stop now before I start writing stupid cliche's about life being a "roller coaster", but if fate wants to slap me a third time, and I'm warning it, it better be prepared to have it's backside well and truly kicked.
posted by Chris L @ 8:33 pm
3 Comments:
Slap that bitch.
Chris usually they can't be sure a lesion is a melanoma until it's removed and pathology performed. I had a suspecious neavus (mole) removed from my back also recently that turned out to be benign. The worst part was the injection of local anaesthetic which stings a little however after that it's all numb and you don't feel much. I had about 8 stitches and they didn't bother me although I didn't do much to stretch them for a couple of weeks. I'm a big wuss and it was all fine. I however got a surgeon to do it not my GP. Make sure they do pathology on what they cut out. There is lots of UV during the day especially in Queensland and I while I'm not certain I suspect that a lot of it can penetrate a cycling jersey. I stay out of the sun between 9 and 3 but it's a bit hard if doing long distance cycling. Good luck with everything.
Hi Michael,
My procedure was similar to yours, and I have to go back on Monday to find out the final results.
To be totally honest I found the UV in Tasmania to be considerably worse than Queensland. However, where Queensland is a problem is that the constant heat and humidity creates a lot of sweat, which makes it hard to keep sunscreen on. Oh yeah, Queensland will burn you on a rainy day in winter, too. That said, my back rarely (if ever) even tans, never mind burning, so I'm not entirely sure about this one.
Today I was told that most of the damage that leads to skin cancer is actually done during childhood, and the skin cancer awareness levels at Werris Creek in the early '80s weren't what they are today. I'd say that's the most likely cause at this stage.
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