Now, with the VA, I see the Doc and the PA every 6 months; it has been long enough since my melanoma that they say I no longer need a skin check every 3 months. OK by me.
Previously, at the Health First doc, I did occasionally see the MD, but otherwise my main "treater" was his PA. She was very attentive and was otherwise very good at what she did. Her father had been a skin cancer dermatologist and he had trained her well. Out of the many, many, biopsies she did on me only 2 or 3 came back as not cancerous. Better safe, than sorry.

As the MD told me the first time I went to him many years ago: "Dingpatch, Florida surfers need to be very, very, careful with having had so much exposure, and burning from the sun. You MUST be aware of any changes you might see. At even being detected a couple of weeks too late, Melanoma can be a Death Sentence."

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Dora Hates You

I saw the dermatologist once about a small cyst or boil or whatever on the left ear lobe. He thought it non-cancerous. Then it ruptured and wouldn't stop oozing. I was patient. After a routine visit to the internist, who didn't like it, back to dermatologist. He wasn't excited and didn't think a biopsy was essential, but that it would be a good idea. And I should work harder at applying medication, bandages, and take an antibiotic. Biopsy back, squamous cell carcinoma. That's not a real big deal. Will be treated. This, like much of skin cancer, seems to be largely a problem for older people. My only other skin cancer was back around 2001, a basal cell. Lots of actinic keratoses frozen off since.

Went to the dermatologist at 8:10. Left about 11 with most of the ear lobe gone and a big bandage. Returned to the office at 1 pm for stitches (no-stitch healing would have taken longer; going to a plastic surgeon could look better, but there isn't much on the ear to assemble a new ear lobe from. Maybe trim the other one? I dunno. I might be able to get my ear wet on Feb. 11.