It was fun.The other day I was telling you all about a visit I was going to be making in a couple of days. The story prompt was Tooth. I was recounting my lifetime of trials and tribulations with teeth and dentists and how I wanted to call it quits and have them all pulled (the teeth, that is) and be done with dentists. Unfortunately for me he had differing opinions and refused to help me out.

Moving on from teeth, I was telling you about this aggravating skin condition I self diagnosed as psoriasis. It’s about impossible to get rid of and so I had no plans to do anything about it other than find ways to live with it.

I hadn’t seen a doctor in a decade or so. Mainly because doctors in my area are rarely taking new patients and I didn’t really want to see one anyway. What was the point unless I had something either life threatening or needing an intervention of some sort.

Out of the blue everything came together and in short order I found myself with a doctor, and my worrywart kids were happy. You will have to read my tooth post here for the rest of that story.

So, yesterday I was back for my second visit. On the first visit, a getting-to-know-you, taking-a-history, type of visit, the young doctor was pleased to find I had low risk factors for all of the usual serious diseases. When I pulled up my pant legs to show him the semi-angry red patches covering my shins he was smiling even bigger.

Pretty soon he had his camera out,snapping pictures from every angle, making plans to contact his dermatologist friend.

It turned out, maybe I was wrong in my diagnosis. There is another possible condition but it would take a biopsy to know for sure,

That’s what yesterday’s visit was all about.

My doctor and a student intern were having a good time. It was like the doctor found a bone with some meat on it. Routine visits can be so boring. It’s nice to have a little excitement every now and again.

It was fun for me too. I’d never seen or felt anything quite like that before. It was up close and personal because I was sitting up, on the exam table, and had a bird’s eye view of the whole thing. I wasn’t sure if I could watch but it wasn’t bad at all.

After picking the optimal site, he was very organized, getting his equipment all in place so things would go smoothly. He preferred a long needle for freezing because it was thinner and less intrusive. He poked many places making sure it extended as far out as where the stitch would go to cover the hole he made. The freezing was interesting. It was built to burn at first and then when it quit you knew things were frozen.

To take the sample he had this pen-like thing, (flat with no point,) probably more like a miniature post hole digger. He turned it until it cut far enough through the layers and then gently pulled it out, hanging on to a pea sized piece of flesh. They popped it in a small jar of liquid to be sent on it’s way. Pulling the skin together to cover the hole was challenging. Slippery and elastic, it didn’t feel like cooperating. I think he did a little x thing to make it hold. I’ll have to have a look tonight when I change the band-aid,

A good time was had by all.

Now we have to wait and see. He says it will take awhile. If it is what he thinks, it will be a little more treatable than psoriasis, that’s good news.

I asked if there was anything great going to come out of this. Like a cure. He’s says no. It’s an autoimmune disease.

I already know basically what autoimmune is but looked it up anyway to make sure I have my facts straight. After reading the descriptions I am determined to be content. What I have is a nuisance but it could be so much worse. Some of the diseases they listed sounded really scary. I’m grateful to have it as easy as I do.

I’m grateful too for young doctors. They haven’t had a chance to become jaded. They are still exploring and hopeful.

It was fun to learn new things.

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On a different note…

Currently I am reading and enjoying a great book that is still a bargain,

Hannah’s Hope (The Red Gloves Book 4) 

Amazon quote:

Raised in a political family, 15-year-old Hannah Roberts lives a lonely life with her wealthy, unaffectionate grandmother while her parents work abroad.

As Christmas nears, Hannah learns a shocking truth: the man she believed was her father is not her parent after all.

In an effort to find answers, she begins a desperate search for her real father, Air Force pilot Mike Conner, who she discovers to be the man of her distant childhood memories.

Local politicians and the city’s newspaper catch wind of her quest, and the entire state joins in Hannah’s hope that she’ll find her father before Christmas.

Happy Reading y’all