About 6 or 7 years ago I had a random blood test for something or other, I forget now.

The upshot was I had a ridiculously high ferritin count.

In effect there was way too much iron coursing around my veins and this is a condition called hemochromatosis.

I always thought I was a man of iron (albeit it very soft iron that bent easily), but this was taking it to extremes.

For the most part hemochromatosis is asymptomatic and usually rears its ugly head in the form of liver or pancreatic cancer, neither of which are very good.

I was pretty lucky it was found.

Actually, I was very, very lucky.

Yes I have to have phlebotomies about 6 times per year to keep the ferritin in check but they are a minor inconvenience in the great scheme of things.

My wife had to go for a dermatology check-up this week and took it upon herself to book me in too.

As a head and neck oncology nurse she’s a bit more aware of such things.

Scaly Sea Monster

Unbeknown to me she was a tad concerned that my head sometimes resembles the scaly sea monster from one of those cartoons I watched as a kid, the name escapes me now. Please do tell me in the comments if you know.

The doctor came in and asked me why I was there. I responded I had no idea other than I have this lumpy mole on one of my love handles that may need checking.

She looked at it and laughed saying it wasn’t a problem, but why I was half naked she should give me the once over.

Usually women run away when I’m half naked, but she seemed keen to do her job, so who was I to argue?

There’s certain people you don’t want scowling and saying ‘that’s interesting’ at the same time.

Your dentist is one, your accountant another and a fucking dermatologist is definitely another.

It seems I have skin cancer on my head, my back and my chest.

Fortunately my feet are absolutely fine and more fortunately it’s not melanoma, but looks more like basal cell in 2 cases and squamous cell carcinoma on my head.

I know have to under go 3 months of chemo cream and probably a few cuts with the lovely term – wide excision.

Afterwards I asked my wife if I’d need a skin graft and after she’d stopped laughing she explained a wide excision would only be about a centimeters and anyway, they were the ones on my back and chest.

There’s not a fat lot of self development going on in this post to date and a lot of self indulgence, so let’s try and put that right.

Self Development Is Useless Without Your Health

It’s no good being the worlds greatest reframer or even Life Coach is they are nailing the lid down on you.

You’re also not much use to your family and loved ones if you’re a bit dead.

I’m 52 in real years, but my head keeps telling me I’m 25 and immortal. I think most of us struggle to accept we’re getting older and our body isn’t quite what it used to be, until something goes wrong.

Taking care of your health such as having screening when it’s offered isn’t being wussy, it isn’t for old folk who struggle to remember who the President is and try to buy a quart of milk with a nickel, and it’s not a waste of time.

I’m not looking for, nor do I want any fucking sympathy. (The ‘fucking’ there was to emphasize the fact!)

It’s highly unlikely to be life threatening now I am getting treatment and there are people going through a lot worse than me.

I have been lucky and I want you to be lucky too.

But for the most part we make our own luck (or in this case my wife made it for me because I doubt I’d have made an appointment  this side of my head falling off, and then I’d have not been able to as I wouldn’t have been capable of using phone).

If you’re unsure of something, get it checked out. I know it’s expensive to get treatment in the US, but funerals are expensive too and in any case I want healthy living readers of my blog, not dead ones who almost never hire me or buy my books.

Image Courtesy of Sunfell