You learn early in Arizona that the sun is much hotter, and much more dangerous, than you
ever knew.
First Time for Skin Cancer
But I was still surprised when a friend of mine, a retired surgeon, looked at a little bump on my
head and asked me if I’d ever had skin cancer. I said I hadn’t, and he said, “Well, there’s a first
time for everything.”
Sure enough a dermatologist confirmed his diagnosis, and in-patient surgery was scheduled.
They start the procedure by sticking a needle in the skin near the cancer. In this case that was
my scalp. Ouch.
Hole in My Head the Size of a Volcano
But the shot worked, and while the dermatologist was digging out the cancer cells, leaving
something that looked something like a volcano crater, I really couldn’t feel much. But it
seemed like there was more activity than I would have thought, and every once in a while I
detected the smell of something burning.
Read: Good Samaritans Wear Scubs
To cut to the end (no pun intended) this fellow had not only removed the cancer, but while my
scalp was numb he had looked for and removed a couple of spots on my skin. I hadn’t asked
him to do that, partly because it never entered my mind, but I was glad he did.
Of course I figured there’d be a charge on the bill for “extras,” but there wasn’t. When I thanked
him he shrugged it off. He’s just a guy, it turns out, who has found a way to do good for his
patients even in the middle of a bad situation.
Doctors Do Good and More
If you’re not a dermatologist, and most of you aren’t, how can you do good on a regular basis
for your clients?
You know what you do, and I’m sure you do it well. Can you add a little do good to that? Here’s
hoping you can.
