dark mark

the other night i was walking past my mirror when i noticed something suspicious on my back. something that hadn't been there the last time i checked. it was a brand. new. creepy. mole.

i shudder.

well i might have freaked out a bit... unfortunately my discovery took place moments before i climbed into my bed. so naturally i fell asleep thinking about melanoma. and brightly colored banbandas to cover my chemotherapied head. and if me and michael would have time to squeeze in a baby before my untimely death. and my widower husband at age 23.

hi, my name is dani and i am a hypochondriac.

the very next morning i made an appointment with the dermatologist the moment the sun was in the sky and then skipped off to class filled with a new-found resolve to take tim mcgraw's advice.

by the time my appointment rolled around the next morning at 11:10, i was fully ready to go look for that bull named fu man chu, completely braced for devastating news. and after 30 minutes of waiting, i finally met the doctor, who showed absolutely zero signs of concern. all he did was numb me up, cut that creeper off of my back, slap on a tiny little bandaid and send me out the door. i have to admit, after 48 hours of frantically imagining the moment of devastation, it was pretty anticlimactic. but guess what, i'm very happy about that.

so here's my public service announcement for the day/week/month/year/lifetime: WEAR SUNSCREEN!! i wish i would have paid attention to this announcement when i was younger. and if you happen to have been dumb like me back in the day (or even if you weren't, actually): check your body for little black creepers. you do not want to find one of those guys too late.

just do it.