One more dermatological thought

Thinking the dermatologist during my appointment may bring up the possibility of an eventual tummy tuck. This is because it turns out the low oxalate diet, though of course not meant for that purpose, nicely drives weight loss.

I've so far lost at least 15 pounds, and have significant loose skin folds along my waist, since of course I'm too old for the skin to retreat as the pounds retreat! No idea if my insurance would even pay for a tummy tuck, but no need to worry about that now.

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Hoo boy. The medical fun just goes on and on.

Have seen the dermatologist I had mentioned earlier. The two most serious items I was concerned with, the growth on an outer ear, and what I have been thinking of as an "age spot" on my neck were both tentatively identified by eyeball examination as cancerous. She said the growth appeared to be squamous cell, and the spot appeared to be non-aggressive melanoma. (Big sigh.) She also identified two much smaller points as being of concern, and took biopsy samples of all four, which included full removal of all. The pathology department should get back to her in one to two weeks with analysis, and obviously we would go from there. She had me make an appointment for another general check in 3 months. In the meantime I have instructions on care for the biopsy sites. Obviously I need to apply myself to better sun screening practices! One more thing: DO NOT do Google image searches for "squamous cell" and "melanoma," as I just did. O.M.G.

The voice in PD

(Copying in this text from my new "Discovering Gratitude" blog, as it is definitely applicable here also.) Feeling grateful to be getting back to regular singing at rehearsal of the church choir I am in this evening. The choir has been off for about a month, which occurs annually in July or August. The concern is I am aware, as a Parkinson's Disease patient, that the voice can be affected by PD. I've been aware previously that regular singing can be a help in this; a friend whose husband died some years ago of PD recommended to me a singing group that is dedicated to PD patients for just that purpose. Their schedule did not work for me, but I've come to realize regular rehearsals with the choir plus singing at last three Sunday mornings per month are a great alternative. So, with this month of choir off time, I have more and more been feeling my voice starting to go south, and thus my gratitude about going back to rehearsals. And I will definitely want to ...

Biopsy wounds update

It's hard to visually discern with it being on one side of my neck and below the ear, but I realized the biopsy wound for the hopefully non-agressive melanoma actually is healing quite nicely. So I am wearing no bandages while at work, but will for a while yet wear a couple during sleeping just to be safe.

Jeff's Medical and Dental Updates

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