A Result I Wasn't Expecting

   Two weeks ago, the morning after I ran my 5k in the Springbank road races, I found myself in in a dermatologist's office. I was there so that she could take a look at an odd, circular spot on the outside of my right calf.
   She examined it and pronounced it as non-threatening. I then asked her if it might be at all related to this reddish spot on my left cheek. She took a look at that one as well and finally decided to do a biopsy of both areas.
   MY plan had been to go into her office and, at the most, come back out with some sort of cream for my leg, I really wasn't counting on her cutting bits of me out and then leaving her office with stitches in a couple of places. And, as if this wasn't bad enough, she told me I couldn't run.
   Even though this was the morning after a race, my legs were feeling really good and I was looking forward to getting into a more normal non-training training routine (if that makes sense!) The reason she told me I couldn't run was due to the stitches and their ability to do their job properly. I immediately thought of all the hockey players I'd seen who'd gotten sliced up during a game, had slipped into the dressing room for ten stitches, and come back out good as new, prepared to continue on in battle. And I couldn't at least run?!
   So here I was, itching to run, no foot or ankle or knee or hip problems, but I can't run. No big deal, one way or the other, I'm getting kind of used to it after all the PF issues I've had this year.
   A week after my initial appointment, the face stitches come out. Three days later, the leg stitches are out. Okay, the stitches are all out and I'm thinking yay, I can run again! But with the leg stitches also come the biopsy results.
   The thing on my leg is still fine. The mark on my face has been diagnosed as pre-cancerous skin damage and she decides not to take any chances and go ahead and remove it.
   It's too large an area to remove surgically so the other option is to, essentially, burn it off. She, of course, doesn't use the term burn it off but, as she describes the process, it becomes clear that this is what is going to happen.
   The process involves a twice-daily application of a chemotherapy cream which, at the height of its power, will cause the skin to become inflamed and then blister and fall off. This part, as nasty as it sounds, didn't really freak me out. The part that did grab my attention, however, was that I get the weekends off so that I can recover, and that there is a totally separate cream to assist me with this. This is a three week treatment but, as if I'm not getting freaked out enough, I need to go back in two weeks after the treatment begins just to talk about whether it's a good idea to continue or not! She then asks me if I need to attend any weddings or special events in the next three to four weeks or so. I guess this is so I don't scare any of the guests or something. I say no so this means we can get started anytime. After consulting her schedule, we decide to begin all this at the end of September. While snuggling with my Sweetie last night, I asked her if she would still love me when parts of my face started falling on her. She just giggled.
   Part of what all this means is yay, I can run again! The other part is but only for about a week. There will be no running during this course of treatment. So, once again, I will feel perfectly fine (at least my legs will) but running will be on the shelf.
   And this will be no big deal because...yay, I can run again!
   I'm including a link to a cancer survivor's blog at this point, as I have just discovered it myself. She herself has used the same cream I will be and she even went so far as to document the day-by-day effects. If you are extremely curious, then please feel free to visit. Honestly, though, the pictures and descriptions can be a little unsettling...
   At this point, my plan is to go for a run! Because I can!
   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!

Do you take special precautions while running in the sun?
Do you have an odd-looking spot or mole but have been putting off getting it looked at? Don't put it off anymore!!