Today was my first day back to work and back in the public since the surgery. As expected there were a lot of stares and "what happened?" questions from the students. It didn't bother me because I know children are curious. I told them I had surgery and was covering up a boo boo. I wonder why some kids think it's okay to stare but I just looked away and carried on with something else. Plus, the job is only three hours so I was in and out of there. It's a little embarrassing and a little uncomfortable to walk around like this. But it is what it is. I'm also kicking myself for having this surgery done just a few weeks before our big trip to Disney. I'm going to have a nice looking scar for all the photos.
The surgery was last Thursday. Valentine's Day. I made sure I bought some chocolates for the husband and kids but that's as far as I went with celebrating. My husband did a wonderful job of taking care of me and spoiling all of us that day. We woke up extra early and they dropped me off at the doctor, and then my husband made sure the kids made it to school before returning to the doctor's office. I was scheduled to have the Moh's Surgery and it went well. I was told it could take 2 - 4 hours. First the doctor had to remove the cancer that he saw, spend some time looking under a microscope to see if it was all gone while I was in the waiting room for an hour and a half and then I was called back to see if more needed removed. Luckily it only took that one round and all they had to do was stitch me up. When it was all over my husband took me home and I was just too exhausted and depressed to do anything so I crawled in my bed and turned on the television. A nap would have been nice but I wasn't able to fall asleep until a few hours later. The kids had an early dismissal and my husband kept them entertained while I rested. I spent the rest of the evening laying in bed with ice on my face. Except for when I enjoyed a delicious dinner made by my sweetheart.
Friday was a scheduled in-service day so the kids were home from school. I was still feeling very tired but did my best to be there for the kids while I rested. My daughter did a great job at wanting to help out and made sure I didn't do any housework. That was my entire weekend. Just resting in bed with an ice pack on my face. I also wanted to just hide from the world. I missed my son's last Pinewood Derby with the cub scouts and I also missed church. I just hid in my room watching Gilmore Girl episodes on Netflix. That was a pretty horrible weekend.
Today is President's Day and we were supposed to have the day off but because of missing a day from snow last week today was the makeup day. I would have really loved that extra day off. I went into work and tried my best to hide as much as I could in the kitchen but I was also working at the trash can so I would have to see every student that threw out their lunch. I received a lot of stares and some "what happened to you?" I explained that I had surgery. They understood. It didn't bother me as much as I anticipated. I have a white bandage covering the incision and it's pretty ridiculous looking. It's only temporary. Then I'll have a scar for awhile. I would have really like to have waited until summer vacation to get this done but it's done now. At least the skin cancer has been removed. There is no guarantee it will not come back but from this point on I will do a lot better at taking care of myself.
And here it is, if you can stand it.
The mark is lightening up and the dissolvable stitches are starting to come off. I'm hoping this experience will teach my children that when I tell them they need to put sunscreen on before going outside that they will now understand why.
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