Mole retained as harmless

[redbird]

I saw a dermatologist today, after sitting around in a waiting room where someone insisted on having Judge Judy on the television, at a volume that made it impossible for me to concentrate on my book (the Tiptree biography). He looked at the mole, named it as a seborrheic keratosis, and said it's harmless and that there's no need to remove it. I asked about itchiness (which is why I noticed the change, in late December) and he said I could use a bit of over-the-counter cortisone cream.

My feeling, after about three minutes, was that he seemed competent, but I didn't actually like him, so after he had me put my shirt back on (the mole is on my shoulder), I didn't ask him to look my skin over in a thorough, dermatological way (as my old dermatologist did periodically, and as my GP also said would be a good idea). I should probably keep looking for a dermatologist, but it no longer feels urgent.

When I called cattitude with the medical verdict , he said that he didn't think the mole had changed much recently; I remember him as saying it had, but it's possible that I grabbed "it's changed" from what he said without registering how much it had changed. (I can't see it without using a mirror and twisting, so it's not something I've kept close watch on.

Also, I went to the gym this morning, lunched in Chinatown, and stopped for groceries after the dermatology. We now have two kinds of tangerine: New Year's tangerines, of which I got eight from a vendor on Lafayette Street (I'd have gotten more had his stock looked better), and another five-pound crate of Spanish clementines.

Gym numbers:

Cardio, 17 minutes, top heart rate 135

Chest press, 70 pounds 10, 4; 65 pounds, 4
Calf raise, 80 pounds, 11; 70 pounds, 13, 12
Balance ~fly, 50 pounds, 4 sets of 15 (two with each foot forward) Lower weight and more reps seemed good since much of the point here is balance.

Crunches, 3 sets of 30
Back arch, 3 sets of 17 (tried half a dozen of the third set as glute exercises, and my hamstrings hurt from it, so stopped)
Yoga tree, 4 sets of {3 on each leg}

Balance lateral raise, 5 pounds each hand, 2 sets of 15; 2.5 pounds each, walking, 15

Leg press, 250 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 230 pounds, 12. At the beginning, I automatically loaded on 300 pounds, and didn't notice until I tried that weight, found it too much (after one very small rep), and decided to replace the 25-pound plates with ten, then realized that what I had left on that side was 135 pounds, for 270 total. And now I'm wondering whether, the other day when "250" and "230" both seemed too much, whether those were actually what I had on the machine. Probably; I think I remember taking off 35s and putting on 25s in their place, so 45+45+35 on each side equals 250.

Glute machine, 37.5 pounds, 15 each leg
Wrist curls, 35 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Bicep curls, 10 pounds each hand, 20, 20, 8 (right wrist pain at that point, so stopped)

Stretches

Comments

[frostfox.livejournal.com]

>>He looked at the mole, named it as a seborrheic keratosis, and said it's harmless and that there's no need to remove it. I asked about itchiness (which is why I noticed the change, in late December) and he said I could use a bit of over-the-counter cortisone cream.<<

I've got two of them, one on my leg which is pretty much inert and one on my shoulder which flares up occasionally, itching and flaking and almost becoming a spot.
Both of them are sites of midge bites which sort of grew over instead of going away.

FF

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

"The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home." (That was the one in the Willows, presumably applying brooms, dusters, and cortisone cream.) I'm glad yours is fine.

I'll look at your mole when I see you next. Sometimes it's easier to see changes with not seeing a person every day. My grandmother noticed my brother's lazy eye starting, when it came on so gradually my parents didn't see it.

>right wrist pain at that point, so stopped
In more health news, are you icing that wrist as part of general maintenance procedures?

[redbird]

No. Should I be? It's very occasional, and that's not the wrist with the old chipped bone. (I'm not being as diligent as I ought about general maintenance right now, I'm afraid.)

I've got seborrhea

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

It makes nasty itchy raised spots that resemble moles. If the OTC cortisone doesn't help, ask for a prescription for 2% ketoconozole cream. It's very effective.

[fla-sunshine.livejournal.com]

Good new on the mole! I'm slightly envious that you are motivated enough to work out at the gym the way you have been. Judy and I signed up at a fitness center for 6 months (while we are waiting for the community clubhouse with its fitness facilities to be finished), then Judy dislocated her knee in Hawaii, so we haven't even been to the fitness center. I COULD go by myself, but I'm just not motivated enough to do so without Judy - and I do get exercise regularly just by walking around our community, but it does seem a waste of money at this point.

[redbird]

At this point, it's partly habit and partly that I can see the results. Not the "oh, your blood pressure is good" stuff, but that the weight-lifting helps my moods.

The first few months I think I did mostly on stubbornness.