A couple of months ago I wrote a blog post about the mole removal I had booked, after years of wanting to do it. Two weeks ago on friday, the day finally arrived! I met up with my friend Ashley in the morning for a coffee and a pep talk, and she walked me over to the Transform clinic in Glasgow city centre.
In the few days leading up to the procedure, my nerves really started to kick in. Sitting in the waiting room that chilly friday morning was the most terrified I have been in a very long time. Although Transform were fantastic in answering all the questions I had, there was still a massive fear of the unknown for me. What would the jag feel like? Would I be able to feel the actual procedure? How would my face and the stitches look afterwards? How would it heal? Does it hurt getting stitches out? What if I have made a wrong decision by doing this and my face looks strange? My brain was working at a million miles an hour with my anxiety at an all time high. The waiting room was comfortable but quiet, and I was pretty sure anyone in there would be able to hear my heart beating fast inside my chest. Give me a tattoo or a piercing any day - this fear was like no other.
And guess what... it was the easiest thing EVER!
I lay down on the bed in between my nurse Claire, and my surgeon Mr Ottoviani. They were both so upbeat and chatty, with banter flowing and a very reassuring tone to their voices. You're probably reading this and thinking getting a mole removed isn't a big deal? But for me it was! Especially since mine was in such a prominent place. The fear of the procedure its self along with how I would look afterwards made me feel sick with worry on the day. I have to give extra thanks to the nurse, she held my shaking sweaty hands the whole time which was a much appreciated source of comfort and reassurance. Mr Ottoviani was also very patient and gentle, which I was very glad for as I was scared of him being patronising or shrugging me off - purely because the procedure was so simple! I guess I had to experience it myself to believe it. I was literally in and out the door in 23 minutes. It wasn't rushed at all so it felt a lot longer than that! The numbing jag was just a tiny nip, and after that I couldn't feel a thing. I kept my eyes closed as the mole was being removed and again when he was stitching the wound up. I spent the week after that with a small dressing over the stitches, and for a day once I had them removed. So I hadn't felt much of a difference up until that point as the mole could still have been hiding under the dressing (of course it wasn't! haha)
On the weekend just there I went up to Aberdeen for a relaxing hotel stay with Pete. This was the first time I'd taken the dressing off after having my stitches out, and my face felt so different! There is still a little patch of redness on the skin where the stitches were, but this will fade with time and become the same colour as the rest of my face. Over the next few days I can start to conceal the redness with some makeup, and hopefully quite soon all I will have left there is a little white scar. I've got a follow up appointment soon to see how everything is healing, and I am honestly so chuffed with how it's all gone. I couldn't have done it without the kindness and support of everyone at Transform. It took a lot of bravery for me to finally take this leap and remove something that has been a part of me for so long. Transform took my hand and guided me through it all. If I had known how easy it was I would have done it so much sooner! Their motto is 'When you feel good, we feel good'... so I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank them again from the bottom of my heart, and say I feel good.
