Done Waiting: The Results of My Biopsy

(Spoiler alert: No skin cancer! Writer does long “happy dance.”)

When last we left our faithful cancer fighter (me), I had just had a biopsy of a spot on my nose and was in a panicked holding pattern. For those of you old enough, this is where the boy wonder would say, “Golly Batman, what do we do while we wait?”

Waiting for my biopsy results

If the aforementioned Batman reference missed you, I am truly sorry, it was a more playful era. I digress. Yes, so there I sat awaiting biopsy results. I did what anyone does, I imagined the absolute train wreck my life was about to become and tried to put on a happy face. Don’t waste your time. Those who love you see right through it and they are hurt that you won’t be more open and honest with them. This is the voice of experience.

Worrying that no news was bad news

Thursday was a full week since the biopsy and a call to the doctor yielded no results. Now worry really set in. Surely if there was nothing, the results would be in. This can only mean one thing. If you have ever been in this situation or if you are now in the situation, this is what it means when your results are not in. The testing isn’t done. Nothing else, no hidden meaning. No agenda and nothing to worry about.

I know that is easier said than done but it is the truth and I have waited for a lot of results over the years. So Thursday night is another sleepless one and Friday is worrisome as I wait. I call in the early afternoon and the results are in.

“Inconclusive”

The results are inconclusive and I am being referred to a dermatologist. The earliest appointment is mid-May. Nope! We will need to do better than that. A gentle prodding yields a miraculous opening on Tuesday morning, only 3 days hence. Much better.

Consulting with the dermatologist

The entire family held their collective breath until this morning, Tuesday, and I reported promptly at 9:15, as instructed. After the pleasantries were exchanged and the situation well described, the doctor had a look-see at the offending spot. She gave me a very lengthy and official name for the redness and then, seeing my bewilderment, declared, “It is a sunspot.”

If you ever are in need of eliciting tears from a middle-aged, surly, heavily tattooed biker, tell him his week of fear, anxiety, and near panic is a “sunspot.”

A sigh of pure relief

I wiped my eyes and breathed a sigh of pure rapturous relief. We did freeze the area to ensure the growth did not reappear, but it is not cancerous. I was scheduled for annual checks as a proactive measure and just like that, it was over.

I called and or texted everyone waiting for the results and wifey and I went to look at flooring for the family room. Then we went to lunch to celebrate. Cancer may have its days of victory but today ain’t one of them!

For those of you who read the first piece and said a prayer, thank you. For all of you going through this and so much more, know you are in my prayers.