My glamor shot

I guess there is no sense of posting a photo of yourself if you look bad, but it's another story when you look really really weird and scary. So here I am, looking weird and scary.

I posted a similar photo about a year ago when I first had Photodynamic Therapy, or PDT, and here is a similar one taken yesterday while I was prepared for the procedure at the dermatologist's office in Boston. First, the technician applied a light-sensitive cream, covered me up, and had me sit in a darkened room to incubate for about an hour.

Then she put an intense light on my face for 15 minutes while I waved a hand-held cold blower on it. When it was over, I was bright red, as though badly sunburned.

The purpose is to remove pre-cancerous spots before they turn into something more serious, as a couple already have. This kind of spot is likely to appear at some point in people like me who have a lot of sun damage, but chemotherapy sped the process up.

When I was done, Dr. Lin came in and and used a cold gun to zap some spots on my hand and a few left on my neck.

Not a very fun visit, although she is so nice that her personality always helps on visits like these.

During the incubation period in the dark room, there was enough light for me to read the paper a little, but that got tiring, so I amused myself by texting the photo above to some friends. One responded that I should think about how good my skin will look after the skin peels off, perfect timing for our high school reunion in May.

I wrote back that the procedure would also make me look 18 and do my hair for me.

If only.