Roses

It's not like I've ever had a flawless complexion. Never had bad acne, always some. Which provides me with hours of entertainment. But it was never an issue.

Appointment today, and at least it was still in full flare up when I saw the doc. Itchy and red, irritated and obvious, easy to diagnose. My face felt raw and unhappy, in need of care. PA student set on me, with permission.

"Part of my job."
"Oh, not really, I appreciate it."
"Well, I work for the U, so, yeah, this is what we do, even as the patient."

We all need to teach, and learn.

Doc is knowledgable, which I love, dismisses some of the concerns. "Part of our job is to scare people into getting help" he says. I suspect the loss of vision from rosacea is one of those rare things, like enchondromas that are actually lung cancer metastacies. Which is important to know, for a specialist. So, I follow up.

Getting some lab work as well. I'm sure it will come to nothing, but I don't want to be that nurse. The one with the bilateral, end stage breast cancer, who had a positive biopsy two years before, but delayed treatment until the sister she'd been caring for, with breast cancer, died. I'm sure she's long gone now, and that image, those hard oranges, the dissection down to muscle, will stay in my mind all my life. Given a clue, best to take it. Foolish not to. Ignoring the unlikely is one thing, turning a blind eye to a roaring monster, not so much.

So, I take solid advice, and follow it to a reasonable conclusion. Just the eye drops have helped over the past week, the lid tick is much calmer. Hopefully, the facial skin will follow along. Getting medicated cream for it, and maybe some tea bags for them as well. See what works.

Not much of a day off. And I went in to help cover lunches. Only a couple of hours, but it's so appreciated.

Chin, chin.