Oscar Wilde was credited with saying “With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone”.  He was only 46 when he died…what the heck did he know about aging?  Look at him!  Not a mole, wart, age spot anywhere.  The young whipper snapper!

At 73, I can attest to the fact that aging comes with MANY things besides wisdom (and I think many thought instead of “wisdom” our creator said “yessum” and we thought that meant just move on along so we missed out.)

In addition to aches and pains, hearing loss, mind loss, stiffness, and extra pounds, there comes MORE skin growths.  They start popping out everywhere!

I was born with two brown birthmarks or huge freckles on the back of one of my legs.  The largest one is on the back of my thigh and about two inches long (it looks like a smear) and the smaller one is on the back of my calf and is a little bigger than an eraser on a pencil.  They never bothered me until I was a teenager.  I went swimming with a friend and as I was getting out of the pool she yelled “Rose Mary!!!  There is something on the back of your leg!  It looks like poop!”  I realized then these birthmarks look like I have crapped myself and it has dribbled down my leg.  As with many things in life, you get used to hearing it and after a while it isn’t quite so embarrassing.  You realize that those who care about you don’t see your “flaws”. With luck, they just see you.

My mother and her father were both red headed and when I would go in the sun as a teen and young adult, my dark hair took on red highlights and freckles appeared like popcorn anywhere the sun touched my skin.  I hated those things!  I wanted beautiful unspotted skin, but it has never been mine.  My Grandma Davis called the freckles “angel kisses”, which I supposed helps some, but when I’m in the sun, my face looks like the angel didn’t just kiss me, it made out with me!

My Great Aunt Mattie (pictured below) had a big black mole on her forehead.  My first memory of meeting her was looking at that “huge” mole and seeing nothing else.  It was scary!  She probably could have covered it by parting her hair on the other side but she didn’t do that.

At some point Aunt Mattie came to live with Grandma and Grandpa Spencer so I saw her more often.  Unlike Grandma who was a tough ol’ gal, Aunt Mattie always had a smile and she had the cutest laugh.  I loved being around her…and eventually, after getting to know her, the mole disappeared to my eyes… I no longer saw the mole, just her love.   I look at this picture of her and realize the mole really wasn’t that big.  It just looked huge because I was so small when I first met her.   That mole never detracted from the sweet person she was.

My daughter, Heidi, told me recently about Dr. Jamie, her “cutie pie” dermatologist. As we talked, I thought maybe I should go in to see him.  I have tons of skin tags, age spots, lumps, etc. but this year I have developed some that are really getting to me.  I have a large black mole on my chest and a large sandpaper patch on my back.   Then I have one that gets me the most.  It is the flesh colored mole under my right eyebrow.  Let’s just say I feel like it is the first thing anyone sees when they look at me now…kind of like the horn on a unicorn.

Before I set up an appointment and decide what I want “removed” I began contemplating each bump and mark on my body.  Then it hit me…I wondered if I have several of these removed, might they weigh a few ounces each?  If I have enough of them removed, might it result in a significant weight loss?

Hmmmm, The Dermatologist Diet.  I like the sound of that.  INSTANT weight loss!