Over the years, readers of foodtalk4you have been encouraged to embrace healthy choices, if made on a regular basis, would result in a better inner balance; a health status more naturally obtained; and nourishment from foods that are anti-inflammatory.

All well and good.

Oh, and health checks. We’ve covered those, too.

Have you been seeing the dentist every six months for a cleaning and checkup? Yes.

How about that yearly mammogram for women? Done.

Update with your primary care physician every year? You bet.

Annual prostate screening exam, PSA, screening for men? Good.

Eye-exam every year? Absolutely. I need my sight.

I still see the optometrist from my old town every year; he has known me for thirty years, and I would never skip a yearly appointment with him because that’s where I get my contacts. I count the days for that annual visit so my lenses can get updated.

Have you ever been to a dermatologist for a full body check of your skin? Yes?

How long has it been since your last exam? Well…

That’s where I came up short.

Regular as clockwork, I had went to see my dermatologist.

That is, until I moved.

Then I discovered getting established with new care providers was such a chore, I made plans to keep my dermatologist as well – just schedule my yearly checkups on the same day as my eye doctor.

Two important checkups on one day trip. Easy peesy.

Until one of them had to reschedule, and I could no longer piggyback appointments.

Eyes demanded attention. Skin … not so much. Skin needs an advocate, and I fell down on that job.

Several friends in my new community were already sporting small bandages here and there after they got established with their new dermatologists. Small, being the operant word here.

Then, a friend came back from having a couple skin biopsies done – only to learn a few days later – they were both melanomas.

Good grief.

That did it. Getting established with a new dermatologist suddenly moved to the top of my list. I called the office nearest me to schedule an appointment as a new patient. Well, the next available appointment was two months out and I had no choice but to wait.

Finally, at my appointment, the tiniest biopsy I’ve ever had was taken from my forehead. It came back as basal cell carcinoma.

It would be my fourth basal cell, and I wasn’t overly concerned, especially because of the biopsy’s size.

While I might have developed a basal cell growth on my forehead anyway, the adage is now ringing very loudly in my head: “A stitch in time, saves nine.”

If I had not delayed, then maybe that tiny basal cell would not have developed so stealthily along a nerve, enabling it to grow and travel more easily.

Long story short, there’s a 6.5 cm long incision, still covered up by Steri-strips and brown tape, running vertically up and down the middle of my forehead.

Geez.

Thank heavens for Mohs surgical technique, developed in 1938 by a surgeon, Dr. Frederic E. Mohs, which allowed the doctor to microscopically remove as little as possible; create slides of the tissue taken; analyze for clear boarders and call me back to take another small slice – which he did four additional times, before closing the wound up.

Seven hours later, my body image more than slightly shaken, and a giant pressure bandage on my forehead, I am driven home.

Sometimes we need reminders. I had never been one to skip regular checkups, but I allowed myself to become that person.

Yes, I use sunscreen and hats. Yes, I make countless decisions each day to enhance my total body health; but none of that takes away the need for regular checkups.

No skipping!

Stop what you are doing and make calls right now for your annual medical checks.

Just do it!!

In health –

Deidre

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