Vacation, Smoky skies and Skin Cancer

Quite a title, eh? Darla noticed an odd skin growth on my back while we were in Mexico. I set up an appointment with my physician and she took one look and sent me to a dermatologist. That scared me a little bit with what happened to Mom. I went to the dermatologist on Thursday afternoon and he immediately did a shave biopsy, where they numb the area and cut it even with your skin line with a razor blade. I bled like a stuck pig and then started to shake and almost passed out. The nurse said my face went white as a sheet. They brought me some cranberry juice and I was fine five minutes later. I was sweating like a teenager on his first date and clammy hot. It didn't help that our air in Sacramento is smoke filled from all of the fires in our state and it was 108 degrees on Thursday. I will get the results next week, but the doctor confirmed that it is skin cancer and he may need me to come back in and do a "scrape" of the area. I had only eaten a tuna fish sandwich all day and that likely compounded my problem with fainting. I'll make sure I have a rib eye or something if I have to go back for the scrape, which really doesn't sound too pleasant, does it?

We are off to Almanor tomorrow and have to drive about 90 minutes out of our way to get around all of the wildland fires. There are still over 300 fires burning in our state. Some have suggested that the fires are because the state allowed gay marriages effective July 1st, but I have a merciful, gracious God and He wouldn't punish innocent homeowners because gays want to get married in this goofball state of ours. We will drive up to Truckee and then take Highway 89 across the top of the Sierras to Lake Almanor. The 3.5 hour drive will be closer to 5 hours tomorrow.

Well that's it for now. I'll add more next weekend after our trip. Ciao.