It's just a mole !!

So it started about 3 1/2 years ago - I had a mole on my back that was gradually getting bigger and more uncomfortable as it would sometimes get dry and crack and itch etc. I showed it to my Primary care physician at the time and he recommended that I have it removed and tested just to make sure it wasn't anything serious like a melanoma. No big deal right? Or so I thought..

I was referred to a local surgeon named Dr. Darryl Bailey in Turlock ca, - Nice guy, did a great job, he even removed some extra skin tags I had on my neck as a bonus. He completes the procedure and sutures me up. Everything feels great and I am finally rid of that persistant itching on my shoulder. A few hours later, the anesthesia wears off, and now I am able to feel sensation at the incision site and something doesn't feel right. It feels like it's a burning, itching sensation that is way worse than what was caused by the mole that was removed. I called his office and was told that it is a normal outcome for a minor procedure and it's just what occurs in the healing process. So I take their advice at face value and give it a couple of more days to see if the symptoms subside.


A couple of days go by, and things aren't getting better, in fact, they're getting worse and it's starting to feel like an infection is setting in. My girlfriend at the time was a nurse, so I showed her my shoulder and her immediate impression was that I was having an allergic reaction to the suture material. I called Dr. Bailey's office again and made another appointment to be seen so I can get his take on what has gone wrong. By the time I see him, it has been about 4 or 5 days since the procedure was first performed and the incision site is pretty inflammed. He looks at my shoulder and agrees that I am having an allergic reaction which means that he will have to remove the sutures prematurely. Unfortunately, since the there was insufficient time for healing to occur and without the sutures to hold things in place, the two sides of the incision split open leaving what is essentially a hole in my shoulder about the size of a thumbnail and looking rather like a bullet hole. It's ugly !!

So of course, I ask him what happens next, and he simply tells me that it will heal on it's own and fill in with "granulation tissue".

Weeks and months go by, and eventually my "bullet hole" as I call it, does go away only to be filled in with a lump of scar tissue that is A.) Rather unsightly and B.) it itches and burns worse than the original mole. (Google Keloid Scar for more details.) So once again, I make another appointment with Dr. Bailey to let him know that I am not happy with the results.

To be fair, I don't blame him for the results as there was no way of knowing that my body was going to reject the suture material. My understanding is that it rarely happens and I realize that some things are simply unforseeable. That being said, I was hoping that he would offer to make it right and perform some sort of corrective surgery. Unfortunately, no offer was made. He appeared to also be disappointed with the results, but not enough to do anything about it.