The Saturday Morning Report

Hello readers (and I know you're out there). Suz had to go into work this morning for a few hours, so that blew our Saturday morning all to hell. It's not like we really do anything in particular, but we both really enjoy the feeling of waking up next to each other and snuggling for a while. Who wouldn't? Sitting in our robes and talking over our morning coffee, browsing over web stuff--Whatever. Oh well.

I have a big band-aid on the side of my face where a big bump used to be. That thing on the side of my face practically "spoke" to me every time I'd look into a mirror, it annoyed me so much. It would embarrass me and worry me at the same time. I was about to the point of going in to my regular doctor and not waiting for the appointment I have with the dermatologist next month. I figured that way if it was something that needed lab work or something else it could get taken care of sooner. Like I said, I was about to go to my regular doc, then Teresa started in on me and urged me a little. First it was a text message like, "Did you have that thing looked at yet? You need to do that right away." Then yesterday morning another one a little more insistent. "You go to the doctor and have that looked at NOW" or something similar blurted out from my phone screen, followed by "signed, your pain in the ass ex-wife." She's very much the worrier about stuff like that. After all, she lost her mother to cancer because she ignored signs. Well I did call and got in right after work at 3pm.

The doctor looked at it and said he was positive that it was nothing more than something called a hemangioma, and not cancer or anything to be worried about. Here's what I got off the web this morning:

"A Hemangioma is a mass caused by abnormal growth or formation of blood vessels. Capillary Hemangiomas are bundles of abnormal blood vessels that are close to the top layer of the skin. They may be red or purple in color."

He said, "Tell you what--Let me 'clear the deck' and get some of these other patients out and we can go ahead and cut that off for you. Just sit tight and wait for a little while." I was all for it, feeling good that it was nothing to be worried about. After I was there about an hour or so they finally got down to business. I got the local anesthetic and he and the nurse went to work. Apparently I was quite the bleeder. I guess that makes sense beings that he was trimming off blood vessels to begin with. It was kind of entertaining listening to it all. They had their hands full stopping the bleeding. I was on the table with my head turned to the side and under a paper thing, so there's not much I could do but listen and throw an occasional wisecrack in. When they finally got it under control he cauterized it with some kind of electronic thing and put a large band-aid over it. He was going to put a stitch in it, but didn't need to after all. I'll go back in a week from Monday so he can have another look at it, and by then the lab results will be back on it as well. I was just about to make my escape when the nurse says, "Oh, we almost forgot your tetanus shot." Damn. All things considered, I feel fine today. My face never did hurt one bit, and my arm is only barely sore from the shot. I still haven't peeked under the band-aid though... It's probably pretty ugly.

My mom called me Wednesday and said my dad was back in the hospital. Apparently he had some instances where he couldn't seem to catch his breath so they took him back in, only this time it was right here in Auburn. She said he was going to be in there for a few days while they tested him. I was just about to go visit him after work on Thursday when mom called and said he was back home. I didn't get any details (I'm bad about that) but I guess all is well. Maybe I'll drop by there today and see what's up.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and downloaded the full version of Tetris to my new phone so I could retire the old one. At a whole $5.99 I figured "what the hell" and did it. It came with a demo version of it, and it was little more than a exercise in frustration because you could only play it for like one minute before it would end. Anyway I was glad I did because it helped me pass the time at the doc's office. I guess I'll just use the old one as my kitchen timer now.