February 27, 2020

Blessing in Disguise? (Jerry's ridiculous haircut story)


Just a forewarning: there are gross photos in this post, so don't look at if you're eating.

If you follow me on Instagram, then you know the short story about Jerry's haircut. But more came of it after that, and it turned out to be kind of a big deal.

A little over a week ago, Jerry decided to cut his own hair (with clippers). Usually, I'll cut it for him--I've been cutting Noah's, Eli's, and Jerry's hair forever. I don't know why he wanted to do it himself, but he came out of the bathroom and he'd clearly cut his hair.

It didn't look too bad, actually, but I noticed that he missed a spot behind his right ear. I told him I'd fix it for him, but he said he could do it. So, he went in the bathroom, and we were talking while he started up the clippers. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing (and neither was he, obviously).

He said, "OH NO!" and I immediately felt panicked. Then a million thoughts went through my mind in a fraction of a second and I burst out laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I knew what the "OH NO!" was... because it was a huge fear of mine every time I cut the boys' hair.

He forgot to put the blade guard on, so he shaved the spot completely bald.


Yes, seriously. I was DYING. We both laughed so hard that we were crying. We were wheezing.

I asked what he was going to do, and (I don't even know if he was joking) he said he that was going to shave the other side off, just like the first, so it would look deliberate. When he said that, we both started laughing all over again.

And then he did it!


I have not laughed so hard in the longest time. I immediately posted pictures, because it was a funny story.

He wore a hat, but the next day, he decided he was going to just shave his whole head. Everything. And this is when things got strange.

When he shaved his head, there was a "weird" spot on his scalp that we'd not noticed before. We started Googling every phrase we could think of: "weird spot on scalp", "bumpy patch of skin on scalp", "bumps on scalp", etc. The only thing that came remotely close in resemblance (ugh, the Google images of everything we looked at will never leave my mind!) was a birthmark--and he was sure he hadn't been born with it.



I told him he really should make an appointment with the dermatologist. So, he was able to see our dermatologist rather quickly, and she did a biopsy. Yesterday, the results came back and the office called him. They told him that it was a "nevus sebaceous"--which actually IS the birthmark thing we'd saw online!

It's basically a hair follicle tumor--almost always benign--but it's a congenital malformation, so it happens before birth. If it's not removed early, then as an adult, and changes appearance to look like what Jerry's looked like.

The doctor said it was benign, but that our insurance would cover its removal because there is the potential for it to turn cancerous. He asked how soon he could get in (he hated how it looked--after shaving his head, it stood out). Yesterday was a snow day for the kids (today was, too!) and a lot of people had canceled appointments at the dermatologist's office. So, he was able to get in just an hour after the phone call.

He went in and the doctor numbed his scalp, and then cut out an eye-shaped piece out around the nevus sebaceous. This is the piece that she removed:



She gave him eight stitches to close it up. Now, he'll have a minor scar, but he's glad that the thing was removed. His head his killing him, though.




So, it's interesting that what was a hilarious story about his haircut turned into finding this tumor on his scalp and then having it removed. I don't know if he ever would have noticed it otherwise!

I'm glad that it was benign and that everything turned out well. We will always laugh hysterically about his accidental haircut, though ;)


5 comments:

  1. This totally made my day! Thank you for sharing. So glad it wasn’t anything serious.

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  2. Thanks for sharing your funny story! Isn't the human body amazing with all the weird things it produces??? I wanted to mention that I'm loving your daily posts about anything and everything! I love the variety of your posts and appreciate all the work you put into your writing, pics and posting. Have a great day!

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  3. Glad you found it and had it removed quickly. I had a mole removed (football shaped for the easy closure) but they wouldn't let me see the piece they removed so THANKS cuz I always wondered what it might look like. This reminded me of the show Dr. Pimple Popper which is interesting and icky all at the same time. Tell Jerry "thanks for sharing!"

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  4. I did the EXACT thing to my husband years ago. He will never let me forget it!

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  5. I had a nevus sebaceous when I was a kid! Mine was on my cheek. I had it removed when I was 8 years old, they recommended getting rid of it before puberty because it could get much bigger (and being prominently on my face, would get a lot of sun exposure and was higher risk for cancer).

    ReplyDelete

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