Well, I’m surviving!
Naples was fun! We went with two of A’s friends and their families (so, including us: 6 parents total + 7 kids). For anyone less familiar with FL, Naples is on the west coast, and it’s only about 1.5 hours away, basically straight across the Everglades.
We had lots of beach time (I EVEN WENT IN THE OCEAN), pool time, and only one torrential rainstorm (which was actually kinda nice because it forced us into some relaxing downtime before dinner). We also celebrated A’s #14 at a fancy steakhouse with her friends (so that makes 2 of the kids who got really special bday dinners this year)!
As much as I would LOOOOVE to create a post (with a bunch of pictures!) that is a testament to her awesomeness, I will restrain myself as she prefers to keep things more private. But, for the record, she is amazing and I am proud of her. And 14 seems like legit teenhood!
(I cannot believe driving is coming up so soon!!!)
We got home mid-day Sunday, and then yesterday I had one day (and night) of call. It was fine, but I do feel like call is not the ideal re-entry plan. That said, I had better get used to it because I have a week of call upon returning from our Hawaii trip too (!).
(Note: at least a) we have a full buffer day and b) we will not be going straight from Hawaii to here so there shouldn’t be an entire 6 hour time difference and also c) kids won’t be in school yet so that will actually make for a more relaxed overall call week — no early drop-offs.)
((I don’t really think there is some magic solution to re-entry! If you want to travel and take time off, you have to deal with the inevitable backlog that you will return to. I guess I feel like it’s better to just know that and accept it than hope for some sort of way around it. Buffer days help, but they do add up and cut in to PL time pretty quickly!))
I *am* behind on BLP recording (hopefully my sound team will forgive me for a Wednesday submission!) but otherwise my full clearing of the decks midweek last week helped a lot!
Last thing: my derm found a lesion on my upper forehead and the biopsy came back as a basal cell (so . . I guess having one annoying medical thing does not serve as a magical get out of jail free card for all the others like I had imagined!). So now I get the pleasure of my first MOHS procedure . . . but probably not last, as a South Floridian with pale skin and only “okay“ sun protection habits, ugh. Tips/reassurance appreciate from anyone who has been through it! I do feel lucky that it’s super high up/close to the hairline so hopefully scar won’t be anything significant.
(BUT then my dad who has had a few of these asked if they’ll have to cut my hair and NOW I’m freaking out. Let’s hope not because that WILL NOT LOOK GOOD right at the hairline.)
6 Comments
I’m sorry to hear about the basal cells. Thank goodness you are good about going to the derm! Phil had basal cells on his nose a couple of years ago and went through the MOHS procedure. The nose is such a sensitive area and they had to do 2-3 cuts I believe. Then he had a big bandage over his nose for several days. I would think the forehead area would be better? Phil’s nose has a divot in it now. We jokingly say – there goes your modeling career. But it’s better than the alternative! And now he is a religious user of sunscreen on his face. He used to run over lunch with no hat and no sunscreen on his face… I bit my tongue and avoided telling him how awful of an idea that was…
Returns are hard, especially when you are jumping into call. I almost always have a day buffer for us. For this DC trip we didn’t since it was just Paul and I so Phil had groceries and such.
Even a divit won’t be bad in the location it’s in – as long as i don’t get a hairline haircut. (!)
Running really did me no favors, huh!? (well, assuming it’s from run-related exposure. I need to be better from now on with ALL my sun exposure 🙁 🙁 )
And yes at least A and I made it to TJ’s on Sunday! Groceries are always the first priority!!
This is well time as I am on re-entry day 1 after an 8 day vacation. Changing time zones is just … not fun.
Because they grew up in sunny AZ before the advent of sunscreen, both my parents have had basal cell and my dad has had two MOHs one on his nose and one on his ear. The ear is much worse cosmetically because they had to take some of the cartilage. The one on his nose is almost invisible. You would never know if you interacted with him casually. am pretty careful about sunscreen, but I too grew up in AZ so I feel like this is in my future. Hopefully, yours will also be unnoticeable once it’s healed.
I had a spot removed along my side part in my hair but it wasn’t MOHS so they probably took more than necessary since not as precise. My suggestion would be to have a wide fabric headband ready that you can put over the bandage (I had to leave mine on for a day or two but yours might be different? Or smaller bandage?) My family is all fair skinned and we’ve all had various spots removed over the years, though we are very careful with sunscreen/coverage since it became a thing. I now never spend time in the sun without a hat and have something designated for every outdoor activity including swimming! Good luck and I hope everything goes well!
I had MOHS on a BCC on the top of my head, under my hair. The doctor did her best to close the wound but I still have a divot and a smallish bald spot. Does it annoy me? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes. Accepting changes to my body is all part of aging in my view.
I should say it’s one of the challenges of aging – didn’t mean to imply that it’s always easy!