Whack-A-Mole

Thankfully, I am not talking about this kind of mole! But, I do find the irony in that game 'Whack-A-Mole'...you find one, then you notice another one pop up, that you never noticed before. Anyway, so last summer every time my mom saw me in a tank top she would tell me that I should really have the moles on my shoulders taken off. I was pregnant at the time, so I knew if by chance anything came up malignant, that I would not want to start any Chemo, so I put it off till after Rowan was born. I finally made my first appointment at the end of April. I started with the first 5 biggest ones, then went back a couple of weeks later, did 5 more then asked the Dr. about the one in the arch of my left foot. Of ALL of them, he said that one SHOULD be removed! He also said that it would need stitches, but I would be able to walk still. He said to come back in a month, so last Friday I had the one on my foot taken off.

I think the thing I was most nervous about was the injection in the arch of my foot! And I was right to be nervous, it was very painful! It even stung more than the one in my back when I had an epidural, but really that is not a fair comparison because being in labor really throws your whole pain tolerance out the window. Anyway, they numbed it up really good, and I didn't feel much else except a little pulling when he was stitching it up. He said it was pretty deep and that they had to do internal stitches as well as external ones. He also figured I had it most of my life, since it was so deep. I do know that I have had it since I was a kid because I remember that my brother has one in the same spot, but on the opposite foot. So for the rest of the day I was able to walk OK, but just with a limp. However, the following day all the numbing medicine was gone, and I could not walk on it AT ALL, even with the pain medication! The arch of the foot stretches if any weight is put on it at any point, and anytime I tried to put any weight on it pulled on the stitches, and was very painful. Thankfully, my mom had lent me her crutches because I don't know how in the world I would have done anything! Mike took over everything the whole weekend, the kids, the house and me! He is a Saint!

Then on Monday, I just didn't feel healed enough to go to work, so I took a sick day. My mom and Mike's mom came over to help with the kids. I am very grateful to them for their help. Then on Tuesday I decided to go to work, and man was it a LONG day. I usually leave work around 2:30-3:00 pm, but since I can not carry the kids inside the house, I have to work late the rest of this week so that Mike will be home to get them. I can tell that it is feeling better each day, but I still try to not put too much pressure on it because I don't want to pop any stitches out, plus I think the less I use it, the quicker and better it will heal. This experience has really given me a lot of sympathy and empathy for others that have to use crutches, or a wheelchair. My upper arms are pretty sore, and the leg that I am using is sore,and my hands are sore from holding onto the crutches too! And my knees are bruised and sore too from crawling on the floor! Everything is 10 or 20 times harder to do, and it wears you out pretty quickly too. I will be so glad to get the stitches out at the end of next week!! I really hope that it is benign, and that my foot heals OK...there are just so many nerves and muscles in your foot...I appreciate the arch of my foot so much more now.