Our RV Adventures

As regular readers will remember, Jan had her brush with breast cancer a few months ago. And after some ups and downs, and a excisional biopsy/lumpectomy, everything turned out fine, with only more frequent mammograms needed in the future.

And now it’s my turn.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a sore on my head that wasn’t going away, so about a week ago I took this head selfie.

Some internet research confirmed my suspicions that that it was almost certainly skin cancer. and based on how it felt, i.e., a raised edge and a depression in the center, I was pretty sure it was a squamous cell carcinoma, one of the two skin cancers that are eminently curable. The other one is a basal cell carcinoma. Melanoma is the really bad one.

So this past Monday, I made an appointment with a local dermatologist for an appointment at 2pm today. We met with a Physician’s Assistant named Mariah who checked me over carefully, looking for any other lesions other than the ones on my head.

To Jan’s relief, she did confirm my squamous cell diagnosis (well, the internet’s diagnosis, anyway) as much as she could until a lab confirms it. And she also confirmed my thought that white area in the lower left of the photo is a keratosis, an area that sometimes can evolve into skin cancer.

Then after checking me over, Mariah first used a freeze spray to burn off any slightly suspicious areas, including a couple on my nose. It stung a little, but wasn’t bad at all. She also took care of the keratosis at the same time.

Next, using a syringe with a very short needle, she deadened the area of the lesion, and using a scalpel, she removed a small section to send to the lab. Although I didn’t feel anything at the time, I did feel a burning sensation for a couple of hours after the anesthetic wore off.

Mariah said that in a week or so, after the lab confirmation, they will go in and do MOHS surgery on the lesion. MOHS is kind of a computerized freezing and sectioning of the carcinoma, looking at each sample until they no longer see any sign of cancer.

I then asked Mariah how deep they would go, and she said, “Until it’s all gone.”

Gulp.

The reason they didn’t do anything today is that Medicare will not pay for it until there is a lab diagnosis.

So here’s how I left the doctor’s office looking.

So now we just wait to hear from the doctor in the next week or so.

Coming home, Jan and I stopped at Martin’s for a few things before heading back to the rig.

Jan said after everything today, she needed an alcoholic beverage, so about 4:30, Nick and Terry, and Jan and I headed over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

Jan got her a Long Island Ice Tea (really misnamed because there is not tea in it.) And I had a Hurricane ‘Rita with an 1800 Tequila Shooter. Both very good.

And about halfway through my ‘Rita is when the burning on my head stopped.

Coincidence? I think not.

Tomorrow, the four of us are going to do a walk-in at the combination FMCA GLAMARAMA/Fleetwood Rally down in Goshen to check out the vendors and check-in with old friends.

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Thought for the Day:

If you’re not part of the solution, there is good money in prolonging the problem.

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A little before noon, Mister and I headed down to the Animal Care Clinic – North, a nearby vet clinic to have his infected ear looked at.

First off, he made a real impression, walking into the clinic on a leash, and then once inside. he looked around and then just walked over to one of the couches, hopped up, and laid down.

He even stayed there when I went over to the desk to check in. The receptionist called to several of the other ladies to check this cat. And when a couple of them came out to the waiting area to see him, he sat up on his haunches and waited to be petted.

When I took him into the exam room to see the vet, I put him down on the exam table and he just laid down. Didn’t try to jump off, or anything.

He let the vet check him over with no fuss, and we found out he’s down to a svelte 24 pounds from his high of 29+. We knew he’d lost some weight when he had that bad reaction to a flea infestation. The vet said there’s no problem with his weight, he’s just a big cat.

She took a swab of his ear and mentioned he had a growth in his ear about the size of a pea. I had thought it was swollen from the infection, but she said a lot of cats get these, and most of the time they go away on their own.

But in Mister’s case, his is partially blocking the ear canal, keeping fresh air and sunlight from reaching in there, encouraging the growth of bacteria. And after looking at the results of the swab under the microscope, she gave me a much stronger solution to put in his ear that will hopefully take care of the problem.

Mister then followed me out to the truck on his leash, and when I opened the door, he jumped in and then went over his side of the seat.

Smart Cat!

Since Jan was feeling a lot better, we made our Mishawaka run today, dodging intermittent heavy rain the whole time.

Our first stop was the ABC Appliance store where Nick and Terry were looking over their refrigerator selection, since they’re thinking about replacing the Norcold in their Winnebago with a residential type.

Then it was on to Sears to look over what they had. Next up, we spent some time checking out Barnes & Noble, and then went across the street to the Best Buy.

In this case it was refrigerator shopping for Terry, and Samsung Galaxy Tab shopping for Nick. But he couldn’t make up his mind about the Tab.

So while he was cogitating on it, we drove across the parking lot to have dinner at Famous Dave’s BBQ, one of our three favorite BBQ chains(Famous Dave’s, Rudy’s, and Sonny’s)

I had my usual (and delicious) Ribs and Sausage Combo, with Corn, Wilbur Beans, and Firecracker Green Beans.

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Jan had their Ribs and Sweetwater Catfish combo with Wilbur Beans and Fries.

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Nick had the Rib Platter and Terry had the Sweetwater Catfish Platter, all of it really, really good.

After dinner, I made the decision for Nick that he was getting the Galaxy Tab, by saying I was parking in the Best Buy until either he bought the Tab, or his bladder gave out.

He bought the Tab.

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Our daughter Brandi called this afternoon and insisted I print an update on Landon’s dirty shirt in yesterday’s Darth Vader photo.

She said that’s not food all over his shirt, but washable marker stains. He loves to draw, and apparently is very good at it. But he does get the markers all over him.

At least that’s her story and she’s sticking with it.

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Thought for the Day:

“After you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend.”

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