Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Tattooed Lady and other laughs

The road for the cancer survivor is often long and bumpy. However, it isn't without giggles...at least if you look for them. Today, I actually experienced a new giggle.

Every year, I try to go and get a full body check for cancer by a dermatologist. I decided that I would switch to the local guy my daughter has been seeing.

When I received radiation therapy to my breast when I had my first bout with breast cancer, I was tattooed, 4 (or 6, I can't remember) little black dots were put on my breast in order to mark the coordinates for the radiation beam. (I asked them for a mermaid, but they said no, that was a little over the top. Darn.). Ordinarily I don't think too much about them. In fact, when I had my mastectomy, some of them were removed with the breast, but I still have two small dots.

When I was at the dermatologists for my first exam with him today, he looked at me and said "What's with the tattoos?" Uhhh...well, you see, I was going to get a mermaid, but I chickened out after a couple of dots...." Yes, I really did say that...but I followed with the real explanation.

I told my daughter when I got home about the exchange. Her eyes grew very wide.."You have a tattoo???" she asked incredulously.... I told her yes, but they were top secret dots. For a moment, she almost thought she had a really cool mom, but then I had to go and spoil it for her and prove once again that I'm not cool, just an aging nerd.

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