Three Months, Three Weeks, Three Days

Monday was a big day. I started teaching summer school, and I had an appointment with the surgeon who removed my skin cancer back in March. After the interval of time that serves as my title for this post, I was hoping to get the bandages off for good. The healing has been going very well, and on Monday afternoon at about 1:30, the doctor released me from further treatment. I'm bandage-free for the past week now, and it feels pretty glorious.

I'm not fully done, of course. Because of the "new" skin that has grown since the microderm abrasian three weeks ago, I have to avoid the sun still--not a problem for me, honestly. I even bought a cap yesterday at Target; I should have a hat, I know, but I don't know where to look for one. My stylist told me that I needed to find a shop that caters to "old men," but where are these shops? I might be rocking a fedora if I can only find one with a large enough brim to shade my nose.

By the way, I also have to massage my nose. Yes, massage it. Inside and out, at least once a day. It's to help the scar tissue keep from becoming too firm. It must be a funny image, me rubbing my nose for several minutes and then sticking a finger up in it for another minute or two. Still, if it keeps me from having a severe scar, I'm willing to go along with just about anything.

As best I can tell, there's only a couple of signs that I ever had the surgery. There's a tiny hole where the deepest part of the cut occurred (and that "the flap" didn't quite cover). And there's what can only be described as a notch near the center of my nose. That's where the skin sort of pulled in toward the wound while it was healing. There are, naturally, cosmetic solutions to both of these areas, but for now, the doctor wants the healing to be complete before we even consider those options. I'm not even sure I care to have any more surgery at this point. I think I can live with both of these little reminders. It's not as if I have ever been known for my great beauty anyway, so it isn't as if my looks have been irrevokably harmed.

My nose is still a bit red. That may last for about three more months. It looks like I have gotten sunburned, so I'm going to hope that's what everyone thinks when looking at me. Slowly, gradually, I'm going to get back to some semblance of a regular life, one which allows me never to have to post about my nose again. Consider yourself lucky. I think of myself that way now.