Red-faced

The face fry, aka PDT, or photodynamic therapy, wasn't as bad as it was the two previous times, but it still wasn't as much fun as lying on the beach when it comes to getting a burned face.

Dr. Lin said it is more tolerable each time because there are fewer pre-cancerous spots. She puts a chemical over suspicious spots and the light reacts to them. After the potion goes on, her assistant seals it in by first applying plastic wrap to your face and then covering that with silver foil. She cuts little holes for the eyes, nose and mouth and then you sit there for about an hour.

I was perfectly happy sitting there reading The New York Times through the eye slits, but as the time approached I could feel myself tensing up. It's interesting how you can observe your own body language. I crossed my arms and hugged myself and began to feel cold. They didn't have a blanket, so the assistant covered me with two towels, which didn't help much.

After it was over, I had a good distraction from the burning on my skin: dinner at Margaret and Nick's house, where we had delicious homemade pizza and watched the Scott Brown/Elizabeth Warren debate. Margaret and Nick are just as consumed as I am with the upcoming election, and since we're on the same page, we had a good time talking to each other and to the TV and watching the post-debate coverage.

Back home, my face is still burning, though less so each day. My skin has turned blotchy, making me look as though I have a bad case of acne.

I bumped into a woman yesterday who was in one of my baby play groups. Our babies had the same birthdate, Sept. 13, 1985, and there was her "baby," Leah, with her looking over the photos of her recent wedding. To me, Debbie, the mother, looked pretty much the same. But oh vanity of vanities, I imagined her looking at me and wondering, "What happened to her?" Actually she's a nice woman and was probably thinking no such thing, but a little self-consciousness and can a long way.

In a few days, my skin will begin to peel, and I'll have new skin.

Dr. Lin wants to repeat the procedure once a year. I can't wait! But hey, in terms of other things they've done to me (most notably bone barrow biopsies) this is a piece of cake.