Expecting the unexpected, and being right

In the waiting room after Mohs surger

Yesterday when I went to the Mohs Surgery Center at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, I had a feeling that the spot that had been in my ear had disappeared, although there could be a trace of something.

Dr. Lin, (Jennifer), had said the spot was too small for her to biopsy, so that is why she sent me to a specialist. She said it could be a skin cancer or a pimple. Jeff drove me, and I said we might be going all the way for a pimple. I imagined a quick visit leaving time to go out for lunch or take a walk in the Boston area afterwards.

I figured the visit wouldn’t be wasted, because I always have other spots to show.

My ear was indeed fine, but a spot at my right temple looked suspicious. A nice Fellow examined me first. Nice fellow, it sounds funny to say. He said the spot might be a basal cell carcinoma. When he called Dr. Schmults in, she agreed. I signed the papers giving permission for a Mohs, and I lay down on the table.

When she started to apply the anesthesia, I said I had written something nice about her, and she better not let me down. She laughed and said something along the lines of it putting a lot of pressure on her.

As usual, she did a good job. She applies the anesthesia in repeated little pin pricks so that you can hardly feel it. At 2:18, while she was operating, I heard my phone vibrate. It was the widely mocked presidential alert.

I had to wait an hour while she looked at what she had taken out. When she returned, she would know if it was a basal cell or squamous cell and also whether she had gotten it all.

My reaction to presidential alert

It gave me a chance to follow #PresidentialAlert on Twitter and see all the fun people were having putting their own words into it or tweeting reactions. I retweeted some of my favorites. 

The nurse called me back after an hour. It was indeed another squamous cell. The doctor had gotten it all, so she wouldn't need to go back for another pass. The Fellow zapped some other spots I pointed out, a few on my hand, one at the top of my head (he cut a little bit of hair out to do it) and one on my nose. The zapping hurt more than anything else.

The nurse said not to exercise or do yoga for four days. That’s a lot for me. At least it’s OK to walk. When the squamous cells have been on my leg, the restrictions have been worse.

Of course there wasn’t time to do anything. When we got home, it was after 6. I had run out of prednisone, so we went to the store to get the prescription. The anesthesia started to wear off, and the area of excision started to sting. I took some pain medication, and we walked down to Food 101 for dinner. It was a balmy night.  I told my chauffeur that he was a mensch. He also turned out to be a good dinner companion.

It had been a long day, so I don’t know why I wasn’t tired. I stayed up to watch Stephen Colbert on the Late Show, followed by James Corden on the Late Late Show. Both were having fun with the Presidential Alert. Corden did his Take A Break bit at one of Los Angeles’ hottest restaurants, going around to give employees a break. I laughed so hard that I forgot about the blisters on my hands and nose and the bandage on my face.