Sunday, May 19, 2014


Toward the end of February I kept my annual appointment with my dermatologist, Dr. Kathryn Zug, mostly because an annual skin checkup is a good idea but also because I like her and she's real cute. I get ushered into her examining room by her nurse assistant who checks my weight and height and asks if there is any hen change in my medicine (no) or my health (no) and instructs me to take off my shirt. Soon a smiling Dr. Zug (I'd like to call her Kathryn) comes in, shakes my hand, “How have you been?” “Anything bothering you (skin-wise)? Fine and no. And proceeds to check me over.


My chest, arms, back, and legs are OK but my head has her a little concerned. That doesn't surprise me because I' not a big user of sunblock despite Julie's constant reminders. She takes a biopsy for later examination in the lab and said she'd call if another appointment were necessary.


She called and another appointment was scheduled before our planned trip to Fripp. She explained that the beginning of melanoma was found she wanted to use a salve rather than cutting to avoid any possible scarring. I was given the prescriptions so I could contact UnitedHealthcare and get the medicine. They covered the inexpensive ($95) one but were slow in approving the other ($260).



When it looked like the insurance company wouldn't come through Kathryn said she would send some samples to me down in Fripp. They arrived on the tenth and Julie started applying them to the spot on my head. I was to use one on Monday through Friday and the other on weekends, one application in the morning for ten weeks.



I was told the ointments would turn my head red but I didn't expect such a reaction when the redness turned into a huge scab. When we returned home on the first of April I was beginning to get a really ugly, black scab that Julie covered with a bandage whenever we went out. I can stop using the ointments on May 20 at the end of ten weeks. I am scheduled to see Kathryn again on the 28^th. It's now the nineteenth and the scab is starting to fall off. It's tough to keep my hands off it.

About the first week in April I noticed that I was itching all over my body. Particularly my arms and back. I'm thinking this is a reaction to the ointments. We'll see what the good doctor has to say.