I went to the dermatologist today to have additional tissue removed from around where a “moderately abnormal” mole was removed a couple months ago. I’m quite the wimp when it comes to doctors and dentists. I just hate going. However, since Lily was diagnosed with leukemia and has had to go through SO much needle pricks, chemo, accessing/deaccessing her port, lumbar punctures and bone marrow biopsies, I figured I could endure the few needle pricks necessary to numb the area for my procedure. Despite my determination to chill out and not obsess over it, I still kept jerking away as the nurse injected the pain killer. After about the third time I jerked in response to the needle prick, the nurse asked me if I’m always so slow to numb.
The mole was on my back and so I was lying on my side as the doctor removed the tissue. I tried to figure out what was going on by what I could hear and feel. The doctor kept pressing against my back - dabbing at blood, I figured. About that time I remembered, “OH yeah! I was supposed to stop taking my daily low-dose aspirin and vitamin E a few days ago so I wouldn’t bleed too much during the procedure.” Oops. I’d had to re-schedule the appointment, and so I had forgotten that part of the instructions. I figured there was no point in mentioning it since it obviously was too late to change anything. And everything seemed to be going just fine.
Before the procedure, as I was waiting, I picked up the only magazine in the room and thumbed through it. The magazine was More Magazine. I’d never heard of it before today. Towards the back of the magazine, there was an article on factors that are associated with a long life. There were the ones I’ve read about before - broad hips, Asian-Americans, good sleepers, first borns, believers, etc. However, they also had one that I had never heard before. People with lots of moles - 100 or more - generally live up to 7 years longer than their non-moley counterparts!!! Seriously!
People with a lot of moles While skin cancer remains a worry, researchers from King’s College in London say that people with more than 100 moles have longer (more protective) telomeres, chromosome-protecting buffers that delay aging and may extend longevity by up to seven years.
Who would’ve ever guessed?! Okay then - I’m set to live a long time - I sleep great, I have wide hips, and I definitely have 100+ moles.
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