Last month, for the first time in ages, I caught a glimpse of my 10-year-old son shirtless. As a private kid who’s been taking his own showers since the age of 6 and wearing swim shirts in the pool ever since, a bare-chested Boy Wonder is an anomaly.
So there he was with no shirt…and there it was, a big ugly mole. Once upon a time, when Boy Wonder was a wee thing, that ominous mole was a sweet little freckle. I told him it was an angel kiss that gave him special powers as the only mark on his otherwise flawless skin.
As he grew, more freckles and moles began to appear. While still few in number, I’ve always taken his sun protection very seriously. So seriously that he’s never experienced a single sunburn.
Yet, there he was with this big asymmetrical, elevated, multi-colored danger mole. A danger mole that failed every skin cancer test I could find online.
Obviously, I panicked. I do that. It seemed only fitting. I also put all that panic to good use by making an urgent appointment with his pediatrician, a man I was hoping expecting to brush off my concerns as just another failed attempt to make a mountain (or in this case, a melanoma) out of a molehill (pun intended). But he didn’t do that. Not this time. This time he was concerned. Gulp. Upon further inspection, he found yet another suspicious mole and sent us home with a referral to a dermatologist…[read more]
MOMMYFRIEND 
Thanks for sharing this. Poor guy 😦 I bet that was truly scary at the derm. You’ve really reminded me how important it is to do regular skin checks – even for our private kids. I’d rather have them dislike me checking their skin than realize it when it’s too late. Best wishes.