How my face became a humble reminder of the fallen world we live in

Cool story – I had plastic surgery! OK maybe that’s only half the story, but it sounds better than saying I had a melanoma removed from my face and a plastic surgeon helped in the process. Intrigued yet? I’ll start from the beginning:

A couple of months ago, I visited a dermatologist to check out a suspicious mole on my jawline. I first noticed it the day I came home from the hospital after giving birth to Samuel. As many of you know, life for us was very hectic that year dealing with Samuel’s medical needs so I put my own needs on the backburner.

Still, I kept an eye on it and watched it steadily grow over time. The visit to the dermatologist confirmed it wasn’t a good mole. The pathology report came back as a stage 1 melanoma – not great but also not the worst. I then saw a dermatology oncologist who explained the cancerous cells could be removed with a simple surgery. Since I am young and the melanoma was on my face, they recommended I have a plastic surgeon do his magic to help the wound heal in such a way that it’ll hardly be noticeable over time (fingers crossed).

I had the surgery yesterday (Oct. 22), and everything went just fine. The doctors explained that it’s mostly genetic, which means I’ll have a lifetime of “being watched.” Lordwilling, I’ll never have to go through this again, but there are no guarantees.

All in all, it’s a humble reminder that we live in a fallen world where no bodies are perfect. That’s a fact my dear Samuel will come to know very well due to his congential heart defect. My surgery was a measly thing compared to the two he has had, and now we can be scar buddies!

Here’s the picture you’ve been waiting for. I like to think of it as really epic Halloween makeup or another good excuse to wear a mask for a little while …