A STORY WORTH TELLING
“ What happened to your head … you run into the door again?” — Question from a friend Consider the lowly plastic-strip bandage.
Most people commonly call it a Band-Aid, although that’s Johnson & Johnson’s trademarked name. No matter the name (I go to CVS), slap one on your arm, hand or knee and few will notice.
But stick one atop your head and everyone asks, “Didja hurt your head?”
“No, I just thought the bandage matched my shirt nicely.”
First lesson learned: A bandage on your head invites new friends everywhere.
Like the kid working checkout at the local dollar store, a total stranger who stopped scanning my purchases and asked, “What happened to your head?”
And then there is the sweet little lady at the grocery store (no clue who she was) who inquired, “What did you do to your head, sonny?”
Aww, gotta love a little lady who calls you “sonny” when you’ve got as much gray hair as she has.
Speaking of gray hair, the story behind the strip bandage on my head started more than a year ago with a strange-looking place on my shoulder. I asked about it at my routine physical.
“I don’t think it’s a concern,” the nursepractitioner remarked, “but let’s let a dermatologist verify that.”
So, right before Christmas, I finally shared the shoulder aberration with a specialist. “How long has it been there?” she asked.
“Mmm, ‘bout a year, or more,” I said with a shrug.
She gave me a thorough examination — back, shoulders, arms, neck, head.
“The one on your shoulder is nothing.
Just age,” she concluded.
“Gee, thanks, doc.”
“But this one on your head, it’s suspicious.”
A few days later, the surgeon finishing the removal reported, “It was small. We got it all and early.”
I left the office, my head resembling a poster shot for “The Mummy.”
Removing the gauze the next morning to redress the incision was, shall we say, equally frightening.
“A small one?” I gasped gazing at the 2-inch incision sewn up like a football. “Glad it wasn’t a big one.”
Biggest lesson learned: That tiny bump was the harmless- looking “tip of the iceberg.” Skin cancers grow unseen. See a dermatologist for an annual screening.
Lesson learned (again): Never say never.
Less than 48 hours after the procedure, the sight of a ginormous square bandage on Sunday morning was not pretty. Nonetheless, I fulfilled my regular weekly Sunday morning role as song leader at church wearing my coat, tie, shiny shoes and a baseball cap.
Within a few days, I thankfully traded the big white bandage for a smaller flesh-tone plastic-strip dressing.
I’m still wearing one, healing nicely and still meeting new friends.
Important information learned: Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer, presenting only as small bumps or pink patches.
It rarely spreads but can cause extensive damage and scarring if left untreated. Prognosis is excellent when caught early.
What I already knew: The cause is usually from sun exposure. So, kids, when your mother tells you to wear a hat and sunscreen outside, pay better attention than I did.
That way, hopefully you won’t have to learn from a bandage.
Contact Aldridge at [email protected]. com. Other Aldridge columns are archived at leonaldridge.com.
