Well how'd you get the beans above the frank?

My 4 year old had a doctors appointment yesterday. She was born with a nevus sebaceous on the very top of her head. In relative terms a small one. It measured about an inch and a half long and about half an inch wide. Really, nothing more than a birth mark. When she was born we were told by the doctors that she would eventually need to have it removed, but because of it's location, and it's relatively size, her hair would cover it and it would basically go unoticed.

She also has an angiokeratoma on her right leg, which anyone who doesn't recognize the term would know it as a rasberry. Again, this one is small and I actually thought of both abnormalities as those little physical things that do nothing more than add character to people.

We never really gave either any thought, but about a month ago, the keratoma on her leg started to bleed a little, and get a littly crusty. This is normal for such things, and will eventually need to be excised. However, this usually waits until after the child reaches puberty. Same as the Nevus.

Within the last two weeks my wife noticed a bump, or growth on the top of the nevus. Within a week it had doubled in size and was bothering her (actually the child, and the wife). She had complained when she slept and we figured it was time to get it looked at again.

Yesterday was that appointment. The doc came in the room, said hello, looked at it, and said he wanted her in the OR by next week. Now, when he said that so quickly, I kinda felt a little surprised. I expected that it would need to come out, but being so early, regardless of the growth there, I kinda was a little pissed.

I did some research, and these things have a 5-33% chance of becoming cancerous in anyone, but that usually doesn't become a real possibility until after puberty. I read that on the internet so it has to be true.

I spoke with the doc and he gave me 20-1 odds that it was likely not a problem, but the sudden onset of the growth, and its appearance gives him a little pause. Luckily, this is dermatological. So far. We aren't expecting anything else. What worries me the most is that my little girl (our third of 4) has to endure general anesthesia. Not a big fan. I'm one of those guys who subscribe to the theory that the cure is always worse than the problem. Take chemo therapy for example.

So this tuesday she will be going under and have this thing removed, as well as the angiokeratoma (since she will be under, they'll do it all at once). I'll wait for the biopsy to come back before I worry.

In reality this is probably nothing more than someone getting a mole lopped off. But the doc seemed anxious, and gave me odds. I don't like that. The kid is 4. She's a princess as well. She's not the warrior type like my 8 year old daughter. In addition, she's mine.

I was 40/60 on hitching a ride with Bam and Pebs on their way to Gvegas this weekend. But I think I will stay home now and just hang out with the little one. She's noticeably nervous and questions everything almost constantly. "daddy, when do I have to go back to the doctors?" "Mom, can I just not go at all?" "LOOK! It's gone! I feel better!"... That type of stuff. See with the 8 year old, I'd be able, and feel comfortable, telling her to man up. Don't sweat it. In and out, and you're good. She would get it. This one, not so much. She needs reassurance.

So no poker games for me this weekend. More like movie nights, and trips to the zoo to keep her mind off of what is coming next week. I'll probably miss sundays opening BBT events and most likely Mondays as well. Definately Tuesdays skill game. Wednesday will depend on how Tuesday goes.

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I saw something funny this morning in the paper. I recalled Bams post about Americans being stupid for judging Michael Phelps and his bong escapades. It was a story that said a media company from Toronto that schedules motivational speeches had cancelled Phelps' appearances in Calgary and Vancouver in light of his recent misgivings. LOL

Last night, I was chatting with Goat while Lost was on. My wife watches that show. I don't. I told her the name of the show was lost becauase thats where it leaves the viewrs. Lost. She asked me to relay some questions to Goat while watching. I think I caught up on the whole series asking those questions, and getting the answers from him. So I thought, Good. Now I don't have to watch. Cause now I know. One less thing!

Have a good day and be mean to someone. Telling you to be nice is just sooooo cliche'. Wait, so is 'have a nice day'...