Chopped Liver – Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da da)
Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da da)
Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da)
Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da da)
Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da)
Me-La-No-Ma (Da da da da da)
Da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da!
So sang The Muppets. I think.
Two blogs in two days – who knew?
There is a significant increase in melanoma (skin cancer) amongst transplant patients. More so amongst kidney transplantees rather than liver transplantees – due to the dosage levels of immuno-suppressants usually required by each.
As you may know, whenever I venture out into the big bad world between the months of April and October (unless this heatwave continues until November) I have to be covered up – factor 50 suncream and a cowboy hat. I try to convince myself it makes me look cool – but I am aware of the reality. Still, small price to pay an’ all that… I suppose… no, I don’t suppose… I know… it has to be better to look silly than not to look at all!
Not silly. Cool.
Anyway, I have been keeping the little secret for the past 7 weeks when I last saw my consultant, that he saw some marks on my back that he said needed checking out by a dermatologist. And it was today that I had that appointment – 7 weeks of slight uncertainty in the back of my mind.
And so it was I saw the derma lady today. She was very nice. She checked me out. She said my marks were nothing to worry about. The hundreds of little blood specs on my arms and legs were little hemorrhages probably brought about as a result of my low platelet count. The ever-increasing lump on my forehead – a lipoma (not a Lymphoma, pop-pickers – that would be a not-good thing) that is a benign growth that can be removed – but not by the NHS as they are no longer allowed to remove it due to cuts in the service. I’d rather have cuts in the forehead.
But anyway – today is a good day. One of many I have had lately – well, to be honest, everyday is a good day these days. They took about 20 photographs of me to act as a kind of snapshot of this point in time so they can compare me in the future – which is 6 months time.
I will need to be checked annually for this though, as the possibility of melanoma increases with the passage of time – but hopefully as I am being checked, if it does happen it will be dealt with in a timely manner.
I am NOT going to worry about.
They did say, however, that if you did sunbathe and got sunburn at any time in your life then you are always susceptible to succumbing to melanoma during your lifetime. I say this merely as a warning, not to go back in time to undo any sunburning incidents, but more to say that if you are still in denial that exposure to direct sun can be harmful, then I’d say, think again.
Oh, and apparently we are heading for a cold snap – so I can put the cowboy hat away for 6 months – Yee Ha!
Tags: immunosuppressants, lipoma, melanoma, the muppets
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October 3, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Not strictly true apparently you have to wear it all year round according to the team at Addenbrookes. Glad you doing great so am I they have discovered something amiss with my T cells but everything else is near perfect.
I saw my surgeon the other day and he said the “Team” where expecting to loose the new Liver, but they found the damage was being caused by Toxiplasmosis. Apparently they are going to write me up as a case study for the BMA journel. I will send you a copy. if you think you’ve had problems LOL
October 21, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Lee – thank you very for your kind donation to my JustGiving ChoppedLiver page. Much appreciated.