Paying The Piper

Over the past year or so a few things have started to change.  I reported that the first gray hair showed up.   That wasn't a big deal really.  Some people get those when they are in their twenties . . . I always state that I don't get gray hair, I give them!  Not many more have come forward since that first one.  So that's okay then.  I'm sure they'll show up in their own time.

I developed plantar fasciitis - Okay - Loose some weight, stop going barefoot and do little stretching movements before getting up each day.  The stop going barefoot thing has been harder than anything else.  I love going barefoot - but it turns out that it is hard on my aging feet.

A few months ago a spot appeared in the middle of my right cheek.  I thought it was just a patch of dry skin. It peeled off in one big chunk.  I didn't think anything of it . . . until the patch returned and peeled off again . . . . and again.  This little dry but pink spot on my cheek just go away.  Did I mention that it is right in the middle of my face?   I have many acquaintances who work as GPs here in the area.  Each one I asked about it said it was a solar keratosis.  

They are mostly benign .. .but about 1 in 20 tend to go bad (cancerous) so I have to watch it.  I also have to keep a sharper eye on all of my freckles and moles.  All those summers at the pool and in the corn fields plus years of topping up my tan have taken their toll.  I don't get much sun exposure now, but the damage has already been done.   

All the years of getting sunburned and not wearing sunscreen are catching up with me.  I never thought I'd have to deal with stuff like this but some of these summer-in-the-sun-chickens are coming home to roost.   Good thing I have lived in Scotland for the bulk of the last twenty years.  It is hardly ever sunny here.  I'm much better about wearing a hat outside and I am now a sunscreen person. When looking on line at solar keratosis, most information says that they show up in patients over the age of 50.  Well, I can tell you now that this one is a little early!  Not freakishly premature but early.  I've got about 12 days left.