The dermatologist completed a punch biopsy in July and results showed atypical cell growth. This past Sunday was the appointment to have the mole area removed. It’s taken a few months to get a weekend appointment with the dermatologist but the conservative approach is to cut (excise) the area.
The process is approximately a half an hour in which removal of the area only takes a few minutes, with the remaining time spent sewing everything back together.
In my case, the only pinch occurred while the doctor inserted in the local anesthetic to numb the area. The pinch was actually a bite with each insertion of the needle. The area, though, was quite numb very quickly. In fact, the doctor poked a few places to make sure I wasn’t feeling anything.
The final cut was 2.4 cm in length and three layers deep (to the fat). At one point, the doctor was using a tool similar to a soldering gun. It’s point stopped the bleeding. The doctor tightly sutured up each layer. The final sutures will be removed in about 2 weeks.
The local anesthetic wore off after a few hours but there has been relatively little pain. The worse pain is I mistakenly stretch or bending to pick up an item. Since the stitches are across the abdomen then it’s easy to tickle the area.
I’m looking forward to the doctor giving a clean bill of health to all the tissue sent off to pathology. I’m sure the doctor was able to cut out the bad and left all the good 😉
The doctor's office called and all is well.