Paranoia and accidents

Looking back at all my posts, it looks like I'm doing well, and very positive. But you cannot believe how worried I have been over the last two weeks. It started when I found I was scratching a small mark on my forehead, and it didn't want to heal. And then I suddenly found a large mark on my stomach. It looked like a large clear mole, but with a dark colour on one side.

Oops! During the daytime I was not so worried, but at night, after interferon, I have been really bugged. And it didn't help that I had to wait a couple of weeks to see my dermatologist.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I saw him today. He had good look and declared the one spot no problem at all, and the spot on my stomach a sebacious wart (seborrhoeic wart). From the British Association of Dermatologists web site:

Seborrhoeic warts are also known as seborrhoeic keratoses and as basal cell papillomas. The term ‘senile wart’ has now been dropped as it offended many patients. Seborrhoeic warts are harmless growths on the skin, which are very common in the elderly. They are often pigmented.

Despite their name, seborrhoeic warts are nothing to do with sebaceous glands or viral warts. They are benign growths due to a build up of ordinary skin cells. They are strongly age-related. They usually start to appear after the age of 40 years, and most old people will have at least a few seborrhoeic warts: some will have large numbers. They are not infectious and do not become malignant.

So there it is. He treated both with liquid nitrogen, so that should be that. I love the infiltration of political correctness!

But I feel like an absolute idiot today. This morning I was walking in the garden, looking over the vegetable garden. It's the end of winter now, and we are starting to think about what seeds to put in as soon as the ground warms up. I was not careful enough, and stood on a pile of leaves.... And my foot slipped sideways, and I twisted my ankle quite badly. It was so painful I shouted, and had to sit down on the ground for a couple of minutes until the pain reduced.

After about an hour I had a large swelling, and decided I may as well see my GP. She took one look and sent me off for an x-ray. We couldn't see any broken bones so that's good for a start. But what a nuisance: I have been so proud of my regular exercise every day, walking my dogs, and now I will have to keep my foot elevated, and walking to a minimum. I will have to see what I can do at the gym so that I at least get some exercise every day.

Accidents will happen!