<p>Character-ha! I’m not sure if the added weight of past years made it easier to have enough skin to close the wound, or the resulting dip in my arm is worse (I don’t go sleeveless, wasn’t for the flabby arms before)- the scar has matured to not be glaringly obvious, it’s the indentation that is noticeable. BTW, I wonder if it is only a physician who will get out her 6" ruler and measure the new incision line. They did outpatient surgery (you can be miserable at home just as well as at the hospital) and it was the start of long sleeve weather so I couldn’t even get sympathy for having recent surgery! I actually pulled off my sleeve to impress upon my relatives the scope of it- out of site, out of mind (no, I didn’t show off another surgical scar I had acquired in past years…).</p>
<p>I second the motion on letting a spouse look- my mole was at the sleeve line where you can’t see it without consciously twisting even looking in the mirror; it was only 4 mm and circular but darkest brown, unlike its former twin a few inches away… There are warning criteria but a melanoma may not fit them- you are the one who notices any change. Also remind your eye care doctor (physician/optometrist) to check, as well as your dentist and, for women, the doctor in charge of your pelvic exam if you are diagnosed with melanoma to check for (highly unlikely) mets (dermatologists do skin, not the other parts when they do the head to toe exam). I am probably lucky I had a plastic surgeon friend remove some moles for cosmetic/bra back line reasons years ago. I was never into sun bathing, but got my sunburns just playing outdoors as a kid (the pool job was probably after the damage was done, jobs were scarce then, I wasn’t even one of the lifeguards like my sister who has different eye, skin, hair color- same parents).</p>
<p>This thread has brought back some bad memories, but hopefully worth it to help some others. An urgent care internist did an excellent job stitching up our son’s eyebrow cut that he acquired at an out of town dept store years ago, the plastic surgeon’s work on other facial wounds over several years is equally good.</p>