My Cancer

Thousands of people visit Australia every year. It is among the world's most popular holiday destinations. Most tourists are sure to always leave with one of a few choice Australian souvenirs, a boomerang, a didgeridoo, an akubra hat, and melanoma. I didn't know which of these I wanted most, but after my Tasmanian hike, I realized that I didn't really have a choice.

On my forehead, just under some hair, I found what appeared to be a pimple. This was a couple months ago in Cairns. Like most pimples, I just tried to pop it. It didn't pop, so I left it alone, made of note of its position and went on with my life. Now, a person should always wear a hat in Australia, especially when one has a buzz cut. I lost my hat in Western Australia and never bothered to purchase a new one, which was not a good idea. I did always remember to smear sunblock through my hair, just in case. Well, it became evident that this was not good enough!

As you can guess, I forgot about this "pimple", until the aforementioned day in Tasmania. There it was, right where I had told myself to remember and forgotten. The pimple was still there. Only it wasn't a pimple anymore, it was bigger, flatter, less pimple like.

Two days later in Victoria, I mentioned to Sandy that I should go to the doctor to get this mystery lesion checked out. She scoped at it for a second and said, "Yep, that definitely looks like cancer!" She booked me with a doctor a week later and I prepared to shuffle my budget to pay for the surgery and all that, as well as a soft way to tell my parents.

I stepped into the doctor's office and removed my stocking cap. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Well, in Queensland a month ago, I found this pimple and...." telling the story in much the same way as above.

She put on some gloves, started rubbing my head looking for this cancer on my head. Finally when she reached the fabled spot, "Is this it, sir."

"Yep, that's it."

"Well..." She looked at it for an incredibly long two seconds. "It doesn't look like cancer."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it looks like a pimple that got a little infected, leaving a small lesion. Keep an eye on it though. If it gets bigger, go back to a doctor, but it should heal by a couple of months. I really don't think it's cancer."

"Oh, Ok." Looks like I need an Akubra now!