hello and welcome to the last day of september! i hope you have all eaten at least one better breakfast this month—better breakfast month. you have until tomorrow to send in a photo and description of your better breakfast for my better breakfast challenge. all entries will be posted next week and one entry will be randomly selected to win the breakfast prize pack.
i started my last day of september with a breakfast i came up with about a week ago. i have eaten it twice before today and i just couldn’t resist having it again today. as far as balanced breakfasts go, this one has it all.
five egg whites + 1 wedge laughing cow cheese + 1/3 of an avocado + 1 slice of dave’s killer 21 whole grain bread + ketchup.
this breakfast is full of protein, healthy fats, fiber, whole grain and lots of flavor. it has a balanced amount of carbs and protein (31 grams and 26 grams, respectively) and clocks in at 335 calories—it really is an ideal breakfast for me.
i love the heel of the bread.. and i hate it when people call it the “butt”… heel just sounds better.
here are the stats in a breakdown format, in case you care:
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flashback friday!
it’s been a minute since i have done a flashback friday! i am such a loser.
i have had a particular flashback friday on my mind for about five months now and have never gotten around to posting it. however, certain recent events in my life have brought the flashback topic to my attention and i decided that today i can share those recent events AND talk about the flashback friday that is long overdue because they relate to each other.
are you still with me? that paragraph was a tad confusing, aye?
let me start out by telling you what’s going on with me. this is totally separate from the GI issues, i know, i am a wreck. (speaking of GI issues, i did get a CT scan yesterday. still no news.. but the CT scan was horrible. i drank 3 containers of barium sulfate, they couldn’t get an IV started in my arm so i got poked three times and when i went home i had the worst stomach pains of my entire life—turns out barium sulfate can do that to ya. i have a colonoscopy coming up on the 13th. i will keep you posted.)
so—back to the issue at hand. i have fair skin. you’ll never see me with a tan unless it’s fake and i have more freckles than an eight year old redheaded boy. here’s a good example from my younger years. we were at girls’ camp in southern utah. here i am one day (at goblin valley):
as white as they come!
we went white water rafting the next day and i forgot sunscreen. enter: the WORST sunburn of my life!
check out my fire red legs! (at arches national park):
ouch, hurts just looking at it. and yes, that is momma b there with me.
one other thing my skin has a lot of is moles. (side note: i hate the word “mole” for some reason. it sounds weird. just like i hate the word “blog”.) and by a lot i mean A FLIPPING LOT. yes, they bother me. no, they shouldn’t. but they do. i hate them.. but that’s superficial. at least i have skin, right?
i have had two peculiar looking moles that i kept meaning to get checked out. one on my chest—smack dab in the middle right when my rib cage connects—and another on the top of my right hand. these two moles looked different than all the others, so i scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist.
about ten days ago, i went in and had these peculiar looking moles removed. it didn’t hurt too bad—they gave me a shot to numb each area and then scraped the moles off with a razor. right now i have a bandage on the one on my hand because it is still tender and there is a pretty substantial scab, but the one on my chest feels fine and there is just a small spot where it was.
the doctor told me that if everything looked fine, he would send a clearance letter. he said that if there were any abnormalities, he would call. well, guess who i got a call from this morning? yep, the doctor. he said that the moles were highly abnormal. while they were not cancerous, he said they were at high risk to become skin cancer if not taken care of. oh, goody! i get to go back into the dermatologist and he has to cut large sections around both areas to make sure all the abnormal cells are removed and then he will stitch me up and i should be good to go.
i am really glad i went to the dermatologist and had the moles removed AND had a full body scan. the doctor told me that with my type of skin, i should be checked at least annually. um, oops. that was pretty stupid of me. the last time i went to a dermatologist was in 2001—over ten years ago. i was 17 and extremely self conscious and miserable about the appearance of my face.
me with my oldest niece, kaylee.
don’t see it? let me help:
i know, i know.. looking back now, as a 28 year old, confident, happy person.. these moles on my face don’t seem like such a big deal. but they were. oh, they were.
remember when i talked about how i was suicidal in junior high because i had horrible, mean “friends”? (if you are a new reader, that post is here.) well, a certain one of those friends gets to take all the credit for making me entirely uncomfortable and self conscious about the moles on my face, most specifically the one smack dab on the tip of my nose.
before eighth grade, i never gave those moles a second thought. in fact, the only reason i know they were there when i was little is because of photographs… like this one from when i was five:
i know you are jealous of my sweet red dress, bangs and side pony!
here is my photo from eighth grade—i got this taken at the beginning of the school year.. before i knew that those moles would play a huge role in my happiness and self esteem:
remember the brand hang ten?! i loved that brand! i recently saw it make an appearance at kohl’s.
so anyway.. the mean comments started. the meanest girl started calling me “the mole” or “moley”—probably the reason i hate the word so much, now that i think of it. every time i caught wind of this nickname from her or another schoolmate, i would go home in tears. these moles were RUINING MY LIFE.
i made it through eighth grade. and through ninth. then i got to high school where there were new friends to make and less pressure on my hideous moles. nobody seemed to notice them and if they did, they didn’t point them out to me. of course, that didn’t mean i didn’t notice them. all through high school i LOATHED these moles.
here are a few more up close flashback photos of me throughout high school—i cringe each time i see my mole-filled face because of the negative association i have with them. however, i am now able to look at these photos and, despite the moles, see a beautiful teenage girl.
10th grade class photo:
10th (or 11th?) grade in colorado visiting a friend:
11th grade class photo:
11th grade, in class—talking on my awesome nokia brick cell phone ha!
i told you i was always obsessed with volcom. this was halloween 2000.. don’t mind the goofy grin, i was stealing that from my brother doug (who ALWAYS made that face.)
12th grade, driving.. i know you can’t see the moles in this one, but i can TOTALLY see the way the one on my nose sticks out. (yes, i am crazy. or at least i was.)
12th grade at a fancy party.. this was right before i had them removed:
yes, that’s right. i had them removed. i am sure you guessed that, since i don’t have them on my face anymore. i went to a doctor in 2001 and told him i wanted the moles GONE.. along with a bunch of others on my body that i just didn’t like. he told me that because none of the moles looked harmful or carried risk, my insurance wouldn’t pay to remove them (or that’s the way i remember it—mom, correct me if i am wrong.) additionally, because i am a baby and don’t like knives flying at my face and watching my nose get stitched up, i asked to be put under for the procedure. again, this was not something that the insurance would cover, and it would be over $1,000 just for the anesthesia.
guess who loves me? my parents. my mom knew what a horrible time those dumb moles had put me through. she knew how important it was for me to get rid of them. my parents would do anything they could to help me feel better about myself. and because of their generosity, i was able to get the moles removed.. anesthesia and all. for this, i am forever in their debt (well, and for other things.. but that’s beside the point.)
shortly after graduation, i went under the knife and had a total of eleven moles removed. it was a quick process and i just had small bandages on the moles for a few days. the one on my nose was the hardest to remove, so it had a bandage for a bit longer. here i am a few days post-mole-removal:
don’t mind the creeper in the back, that’s my friend brad. as you can see, the moles on my cheek
(and one on my neck—you can see it in some of the photos above) didn’t leave much of a mark. the scars are barely visible today. there is a small dent in my nose where THE mole was.. and i often rub the dent and think of my past and the horrible relationship i had with my appearance. it’s a good thing to think about, because i am happy with how far i’ve come from caring about what people think of my appearance.
i wanted to flashback to my mole experience and talk about it because it is something that i will never forget. i will never, ever forget the teasing and name calling that went on because of some stupid moles on my face. i will always be self conscious of my moles—even today! while i don’t have low self esteem or feel the need to get my remaining moles removed.. i still notice them. i still see them and yes, they still bother me. but i am sure nobody else sees them, and if they do.. well, they aren’t going to call me moley. at least not to my face.
the worst part about my mole situation is that i couldn’t prevent the moles from being there. that’s just my skin type. i have a LOT of moles and freckles. i can’t change my skin, so i just have to deal with it. this is the case with a lot of insecurities people have. just because a certain part of our body isn’t what we consider “ideal,” we turn it into something negative and obsess over it and feel horrible.
i am sure a lot of you can relate to this sort of thing. we’ve all been through our teenage years and have had to face self esteem issues and deal with name calling and body image. it’s shitty, but it also is a part of life. if i ever have children, i hope i can raise them to see past silly imperfections and really get to know people for who they are—not for what they look like. after all, those imperfections probably aren’t so bad, are they?
photo circa june 2009.
well, i hope you enjoyed this deep thought flashback friday! i am happy to report that after i have the high risk areas removed and stitched up, i plan to visit the dermatologist for a full body scan each and every year. one can never be too cautious, right?
well.. i have ANOTHER wedding to attend tonight. my friend lindsay is getting married and i couldn’t be more excited for her. also, i’ve got a birthday party this tomorrow for amber—looks like things will be jam packed all weekend long!
be back when i have time to breathe.. and to type.
Qs~
1. have you had your skin checked? if so, how often do you have it checked?
2. not really a question.. but if you have a similar self image experience to share with the class, i’d love to hear it.
Next Comments →
thanks for this post — i can’t imagine how painful those memories must be! you’ve made me realize i need to get checked, though! i’m not quite that fair but do have several moles i’ve had forever and skin cancer runs in my family. thanks for the reminder!
Thanks for sharing your story, Janetha! My skin also tends to have a lot of moles – I quite like them, but I definitely was self conscious about them when I was growing up. I actually have one on my face on one of my eyelids, and I’m scared that my eyelashes would never grow back if I had it cut off!
But I did end up getting one mole removed that was not cancerous last year because every time I went to a new doctor, they’d hem and haw over it and eventually, I decided I was tired of explaining that I’ve had it my whole life and every doctor and even school nurse I’ve seen has asked about it. Then I had an allergic reaction to the staples, so now I’ve got a nasty scar that doctors ask about …
oh my gosh! that’s horrible that you had a reaction to the staples. i love scars, actually.. it’s fun to make up reasons why they are there haha
Wow, I had a similar experience! I had two moles removed in high school on up upper arm. I scar really badly and the two circle scars started bumping up into lumps. I started college and was super self-conscious about the scars. Would never wear tank tops, etc. I went to my doctor and he said he could inject them with something to flatten them, or do surgery to remove them and replace them with flat line scars. I decided to do the surgery. Long story short, I had a reaction to the internal stitches the doctor used and both scars completely opened up and got infected. I had to go to the doctor every day for 3 months and have them scrubbed out. They had to heal from the bottom up. Needless to say, I now have two GIANT ugly scars on my upper arm, and, 7 years later, am starting to accept them. People still stare at them whenever I wear tank tops though. Oh, and they also bumped up and the doctor injected them with something to flatten them out and it worked perfectly. REALLY wish I had just done the injection in the first place.
And, this is getting long, but I also recently had a mole removed because every doctor I went to would worry over it. I didn’t want to have to worry about it. Though the doctor didn’t “get it all” so if it ever looks bad I’ll “just” have to have it removed again. Sigh. And its on my chest, visible with lower cut shirts. Ugh, once again, not much better off than where I started.
Kids can be so cruel! My “moles” in school were my teeth. I was a thumb sucker as a young child & had really BIG choppers…so my teeth were super crooked and “buck”. Plus, we were really poor and my mom couldn’t afford to get me braces. I was tormented by so many people because of my appearance (it wasn’t just the teeth… I had acne and super thick glasses too…and the customary bad hair…). My mom could FINALLY afford braces when I hit 8th grade and it took 4 years to straighten those suckers out! After I finally got contacts in 10th grade I started to feel human & the taunting slowed down. It was definitely hard, and I think back on those years a lot. But really, part of me is glad I had to put up with that. I think I learned a lot about compassion through all of that, and hopefully I’ll be able to pass that on to my children someday (the compassion, not the crooked teeth…)
I’m sort of lucky in FL – the state requires that all insurance companies fully cover a 1x per year full body check at a dermatologist. Skin cancer is RAMPANT down here! I go every 6 months just to be safe because skin cancer runs in my family.
Cute pics! I love the little red dress one
haha ummm well they weren’t really posted to be cute~ but thanks
Great post, Janetha!
Quick question: when you eat so many egg whites, what do you do with the yolks? Do you use carton egg whites? I hate to be wasteful and throw the yokes away, but when I just want the white part I don’t know what do with them!
Yep.. I throw them away. It’s cheaper than buying boxed egg whites (I buy cage free organic eggs at Costco) and while it may be wasteful… it’s the most affordable way for me to get my egg whites.
Oh my heart breaks for what you had to go through :(. Creepy girls like that, ughh! I just cant stand them!
I’m glad you had those moles checked – my best friend is very fair skinned and has lots of them but one looked worse. She had it checked and it was melanoma. We were 15. She’s had a few basal cell carcinomas since then but all are stable thus far. But she had to get checked every few months for a long time. She’d cry and cry about it. So make sure you go to doctor but also check yourself on a regular basis. I see cancers and pre-cancers every day and it is very pertinent that you watch them for any change.
I was made fun of about my teeth – I got braces but I still am sensitive.
I love all of your pictures – you are right, that is a beautiful girl/teen! You haven’t changed any either!
Hate that your CT was so rough – that barium will get ya. Ughh but at least it’s over- next up, the really fun part!
I don’t have moles, but I have freckles. I’ve never had any negative experiences with them though (I have 2 on my hand and people used to draw faces with them as the eyes. funny, not negative) but I do worry about cancer.
I never had anything in particular that people teased me about, they changed their focus quite often. I used to always seem to wear the wrong thing though.
Adolescence is a bitch. If I knew then what I knew now, I probably wouldn’t have half of the problems that I did/do. But what are you gonna do?
I have never had my skin checked, but I probably should. My brother just had skin cancer removed from his face last week and we both have extremely fair skin. I rarely go out of the house without some sort of sunscreen, and since he is a golfer, he is switching over to the highest spf he can find!
well you have left me in tears again – those are painful memories and experiences….. but I must say I am so proud of the things you have learned from them and what a beautiful young woman you are today – inside and out!
yes, you had the story right – I believe I probably “schmoozed” the doctor some to help with the cost – but hey you’re worth it :)
i have had an exam of my body and yes I have had some removed.
When I was in junior high and high school it was my last name Hutteball, my natural blond hair and my arms that were my “moles”- the name speaks for itself – my arms were just TOO muscular (i used to do 55 cart wheels every night before bed and i arm wrestled all of the boys in jr high and beat them) and the kids made so much fun of me that I always wore long sleeve shirts……guess what my most favorite body part is today at almost 60…….yep my arms haha!
the quote is just too perfect – thank you for sharing so much of yourself with so many – I love you.
p.s. you were just cute as a bugs ear – I LOVE all of the photos you posted ~
xoxo
I’ve been trying to get into the dermatologist for months! Seriously, I have to wait almost a year and I’ve called 6 different doctors. I’ve had a few moles removed before and I too think it’s so important to get checked. I just with these docs weren’t so damn hard to see.
PS- I have to send you a pic!! I’ll do that tonight. Thanks for the reminder.
Have a fantastic weekend chica!
It’s funny, I had the opposite happen to me. I had a mole on the left side of face near my nose my entire life but my worrying mother had me get it removed in 7th grade. Similarly, I had to go back in and have surrounding skin removed to double check for skin cancer. Because the mole was so close to my nose/smile, I had a plastic surgeon remove it but the scar still reshaped my smile giving me almost one dimple on that side of my face. I became self conscious of the invisible scar and the way it changed my face.
I had a mean girl in junior high threaten to punch me because I wouldn’t tell her why I had stitches on my face. I was just too embarrassed to say I had a mole removed.
First of all, love Momma B’s response. :D And second, thanks for the reminder. I have sensitive skin too – and have had several “accidental” burns. So much so, 18 months after my daughters high school graduation, I still have the farmers tan going strong.
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2010/05/30/hannah-is-a-member-of-the-class-of-2010/
But I have a new mole on my face, its a bit irregular in shape, and you have given me the push to get it checked out. Thanks Janetha and Happy Friday!
You just made me realize to get avocado back into my life!
awwww j! kids are so mean it makes me sad to hear about how much emotional strife it caused. i have 2 stories that made me feel awful, one was from mean kids and the other was my mother making me feel terrible i didn’t look perfect.
story one: my nose. i’m not a fan of it but i’ve learned to embraace that it makes me…well me. in middle school, there was a super mean girl who would call me jew-nose even though i’m not jewish. racist AND mean…she’s lovely isn’t she?
story two: around age 15, i had a horrid sinus infection and i broke a capillary on my nose and under my eye. it bothered my mother because it looked like a zit so she made me go get laser (IPL) sessions to pulse it away :/ also, the little capillary dot under my eye she tried lancing herself with a needle bc it ‘bothered her’ um….she’s not a surgeon and that stuff hurt. the self esteem issues i have to this day are more from her constant criticism than the mean kids. sad really ;/ be thankful for mamma b!
I went to the dermatologist a few weeks ago because I have this thing on my face that looks like a whitehead, but won’t go away. She said it was nothing, but I’m glad I went.
I have a bump on my nose. I actually don’t notice it ever because I don’t see myself from the side very often, but it’s definitely there.
You already know I had a similar experience with moles. It gets me thinking that I probably don’t like mole for the same reason. Teasing really leaves a mark sometimes, doesn’t it.
I want to know this: why is it that kids are so mean about moles, but freckles are more “socially acceptable”? Maybe people do get teased for freckles…
I totally did. I’m a substitute teacher and sometime the students even tease me about this! Freckles are the best!
You are so beautiful Janetha. You were the cutest kid.
Kids are mean. So effing mean, I got teased for my weight constantly. I got teased for my freckles. My shoulders are COVERED. I got teased for my huge boobs. It was really tough growing up and I’m glad I found friends who didn’t care what I looked like, they liked me for me.
I’m Irish and pretty pale so I need to get checked more often. It’s been awhile now.
isnt it weird how we can be so confident and self assure, and then BAM, some lame mean person can ruin it all…i wonder what those people are up to now? i have actually always loved my freckles, but thats probably because ive only ever been told how cute they are. i went to the dermatologist in nyc but havent been back ever since. i love you and your adorable face – moles, no moles, whatever :)
Great post. Mole or no mole, I love ya just the same : )
Omg I could write a novel and will.
First, the GI stuff and colonoscopy and all that you are going thru on that front…I am so sorry to hear about this! I can relate, and I am so sorry you’re enduring this.
Next, moles and highly suspicious looking and you have to go back to the derm. Dear lord woman, when it rains it pours and again, major sympathy and prayers everything is ok.
And they way the moles make you feel… I had a mole on my face that I had removed about 5 years ago. It was Cindy Crawford-ish but it was on my cheek and I hated it. My.whole.life. And in school I was teased about it. It was fairly tiny, all things considered, like your nose mole, but once you are teased, life is never the same and I became more and more self conscious about it so I had it taken off.
I can 100% relate to both moles.
And being teased about one’s appearance. I am still talked about, teased, whispered about, and nasty things are written about me. I try to just have a thick skin but it’s hard and I relate to this post so much.
Thank you for posting it and Im sorry you are going thru all this
((HUGS))
I never even noticed the moles in any of the pictures until you drew big red circles around them! :) I had one on my leg once though, and it literally looked like a poop stain. So gross. So I got it removed..and insurance didn’t pay for it either. Oh and that’s the only time I’ve ever had stitches! haha
You. Are. Beautiful.
And I’m so glad you got checked out by your derm- better safe than sorry!
When I was in high school, my mom came home one day with a couple of stitches in two different places on her face. I freaked out – she told me she was in a car accident with a lady from work going to lunch, everything was fine, yadadadaadyayadaaa. Then she started laughing and said she just had a couple moles removed. I could have killed her for that trick.
I just have to say that I freaking love your blog! I live in Salt Lake and we go to some of the same places. I also have a similar back ground as you regarding religion and how I live my life now. You are such an inspiration to me! I left a comment a while ago about Ruths Diner and ordering the same thing on the same day..;-) I don’t have an active blog but I read a lot of blogs. I am so rambling…but just wanted to say keep up the hard work on your blog. Yours is one of the best blogs out there and not filled with a lot of fluff like some out there!
DUDE! Hi Becca I remember your other comment. I wonder if we will ever run into each other?!
Good thing you caught the moles now! I had a mole checked out and removed this summer on my chest. It came back abnormal, and it was removed a week later. I didn’t expect a 1 cm mole would leave a 5 inch scar though! The removal of all the extra tissue meant lots of stitches, but I’m glad I had it removed now. I’m so much more conscious about wearing sunscreen now.
I loved the tag that you used for this one! :) You are so very beautiful to me!
My maiden name is Mashburn. Growing up, some kids made up this ridiculously stupid song about MASHing a potato and BURNing it in the fire. I laugh at it now, but in the moment, I was so embarassed. Those lame #sses are working at Dairy Queen now. And I’m a big pimpin’ blogger. Who’s singing a lame song now, #itch!
Thanks for sharing your story. It means a lot to me, as I am in my last year of high school, and often feel self conscious about my appearance. My skin is really pale, and I feel a bit embarrassed to show off my legs in the summer. No matter how much time I spend in the sun I never tan. I sunburn though, it’s awful. I also have a mole on my face. I have always liked my mole, I find it makes me unique and it reminds me of Marilyn Monroe haha. Well anyways, I’m glad to know that you’ve finally learned to accept yourself the way you are.
I have yet to eat a “better” breakfast ;) lol hence why you haven’t received my photo. Also I love your socks /w the red legs haha. And your moles are nothing to worry about. My friend has a huge one on her face that pops out and she rocks it! and I have so many including my “witch mole” that is on the right side or my chin – jetting out like a witch :P lol
You were a cute kid!
I am so happy you are taking your health into your own hands and getting all scanned and checked up!! Sososo important, and a good thing to remind others to do.
I’ve always had a pudgy belly and my girlfriends in high school always teased me for it. They tried to do it in a cute loving tone by grabbing it and going “awwwww”, but it was always backhanded. Girls are mean when they’re teenagers!
hahah you were (are) just too cool! i love seeing throwback pics! moles are stinkers& i’m glad you were able to get them nixed, even though you are preeetty regardless
teehee ;)
my sister has a mole on her face, much like a cindy crawford and she HATED it when she was young but not loves it. it makes her sexxxy :)
and dude, i LOVE the heel of the loaf. it has the most flavor in my opinion.
It makes me so mad how careless people can be about the comments they make. It really effects people and that is just not cool. I am a sensitive person but I have really been trying to have a thick skin and realize that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks of me. Easier said than done, but it’s a work in progress.
You are gorgeous in my book, for what it’s worth. :)
Middle school girls are seriously the most brutal people on the face of this Earth. So sorry that you had to deal with those hurtful words! Will be praying for you both for the stomach and skin problems!
I will forever remember things that girls said to me in middle school and even things they didn’t say. I remember one girl who I thought was my best friend had doodled on one of her book covers “Abby looks like a man!” in gel pen. I can also totally relate with the mole situation. I have one in particular that I can’t stand. It is the size of a pencil eraser right on my butt and it is black. It makes me feel so self concious when wearing a swimsuit because I am always worried that it might be showing and it makes it look like I am incapable of wiping my ass.
I haven’t had my skin checked but I definitely need to get on that. Thanks for the reminder! :) My family has a history of skin cancer and I used to tan every day my freshman and sophomore year of college. Those little stickers you can put on…yes…you could see the whiteness in a dark room because the rest of my body was so dark. Proud to say that I am 1 year 5 months tanning bed free!
<3 you lady!
Yikes! I live in Australia, where there is no ozone layer and 1 in 2 people get skin cancer. I have quite a few moles but I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been checked. This post is definitely a wake up call!
I have three large moles on my neck that I’ve always been self-conscious about, and I want to get them removed. My husband, the sweetheart, says he will be angry if I get them removed because that’s what makes me, me.
janetha, i am sending you hugs and positive vibes for what you’re dealing with right now.
thanks so much for sharing your experience. i so feel for you. isn’t it crazy how mean some kids can be…where do they learn to be like this?? the best part of your story is how your parents came through to pay for the mole removals (i dislike “mole,” too). i’m glad that is in the past but yes, hurtful memories remain.
i wore glasses starting in grade 4. i don’t remember being teased, but i do remember feeling very self-conscious and hating my glasses. now for some reason, i loved having braces when i went thru that stage!
hope you had a blast at the wedding. take care, j!
Yikes. I need to get my moles looked at. I’m fair skin and blond and have lots of dark moles everywhere.
In elementary school my earliest hurtful memory is of my older brother’s classmate saying “What’s wrong with your sisters face?” I hid behind my long hair all through elementary school and jr high. Pulling my hair back was traumatic. Now I love my moles, they’re unique. An old Indian woman said “You are so lucky to have so many beauty marks!”
My mother is Australian and would check all my siblings moles regularly for changes but now I think I should get a professional opinion.
I was picked on at one point for moles, too, but just once or twice by this bitchy girl. In my case, dark brown moles that contrast with my fair skin and dark hair. They’re flat, not raised. Just those nasty comments I experienced a couple of times left a very hurtful impression, so I can’t even imagine what you went through :-(
Some kids and teens can be so incredibly mean. It’s sickening. I always laugh when people say “all children are little angels.” Really?
Yes, I have had my skin checked. You’re so fair–maybe you should go back every 6 months for a check?
Is “Dave’s Killer Bread” a local product? Or something I can get my hands on? Thanks!
It is available in the Northwest states mainly.. not sure if they ship elsewhere?
I have the same skin type as you, but it’s coupled with dark hair from my Italian mom, which makes for a lovely combo on my arms *eyeroll*
Anyway, I too have been teased for my moles (I also hate that word… ugh) and had several removed while I was in college, complete with the whole “we need to remove the skin around them too”. It SUCKED.
I really need to get checked again, but I don’t have full insurance right now, just partial. :(
This is really random, but assuming you wrote that sign you are holding up in one of the last pics, I really like your handwriting. :) I am a HUGE handwriting nerd!
I totally get it. Thank you!
Janetha, I’m so glad you got those two moles checked and are getting them taken care of!! Scary stuff, indeed.
I get a full body check every year, because I’m super fair as well. I’ve had a few things removed/checked, and so far, so good… thanks for reminding everyone of how important it is!
Oh, wow… I’m surprised there have been so many responses and only one mentioning acne!
Halfway through seventh grade, I developed the worst case of acne my dermatologist (that I eventually saw at the end of that school year) had ever seen. People didn’t tease me about it, but that didn’t stop me from becoming incredibly self-conscious about it. I would rest my face in my hands just to hide it during class (of course, that only makes it worse, since you just get more bacteria on your face) until touching any part of my face became painful because of it. My brother had terrible for acne for one year and was done. I had it for three long years. I had moved to a new country + new school before ninth grade, and didn’t make any new friends because I was just THAT shy because of my acne-infested face. My hair had grown long enough that I would use my bangs as curtains so no one could see my face from either side, and to hide as much as I could. I was so timid that I actually came so very close to breaking down and crying for a oral presentation in my advanced English class. (I had to go back at a later time and present… only to my teacher, Without the eyes of all my classmates on me and my pimply face!)
Luckily… that was the last straw for me. Starting tenth grade, I cut out all junk food from my diet, started pulling ALL my hair back away from my face to keep the oils away, and keeping my hands as far away from my face as possible. I was virtually acne-free five months later. :) I’ll never forget…
I don’t really think you need teasing classmates to make you self-conscious about something! Obviously, though, we always blow our own flaws out of proportion. In retrospect, I highly doubt anyone cared about my acne back then. Only I did. Even when I mention it to friends from middle school, their reaction is “You had acne??” and they remember me instead by the things I was good at or positive personality traits.
But when you’re a kid… it’s hard not to focus on the little things! Especially when the little things are on or around your face. (And especially when there are a lot of little things, in my case.) Anyway, just thought I’d share my experience, since it’s slightly different and didn’t involve teasing, but still resulted in self-consciousness. :P
Wow. Sometimes your posts just ring home with me so clearly. It’s funny. I have the same skin type as you. And I have tons of moles that I’ve always been self-conscious about. I’m mostly over it at this stage of my life. But I still wouldn’t mind having some of them removed. I actually think I’m more self-conscious about my skin color though. People used to ask me if I was an albino. After one particular embarrassing day of skin color jokes, I’ve never worn shorts again in public. Sometimes skirts though. Everyone at my school was into fake tanning, but my skin doesn’t like that very much either. So i stood out with my extra super duper glow in the dark white skin. With lots of freckles and moles. Anyway, I’ve never had my skin checked – so I guess I’d better do it soon! Thanks again for sharing your experiences. :)
hi! i loved this post! i normally just stalk you so you may not know me. my name is griselda. :) i have hardly any moles on my body and have always wanted more. does that sound weird? i think its great you posted this, to explain the past all the way to the present is awesome. this is why i love your blog! on another note…since i have started reading i really am thinking of getting bangs! you have such shiny hair. :D
Thank you! You are not weird haha. And I totally know who you are!!
Ugh I am sorry you were teased about them. Why are kids so mean?!
Kind of unrelated but I have had issues dealing with my acne scars. Obviously not on the same level but they just bug me. And I love your bangs. Randomness over.
I’m so glad you shared this Janetha! I’m so sorry to hear about your struggles with your moles, both through other people being cruel and through the physical process of getting them removed.
I too have been blessed with many, many moles (it was bound to happen, both of my parents have a ton!). I used to hate them and be so self-conscious. Then I decided I could keep on hating them or choose to think of them as a beautiful, unique part of me. Others may not agree, and may think of them as ugly, but it’s made my life a whole lot easier to love them instead. I haven’t had to have any removed yet, but I think that will change. I am diligent with sun protection, but both my mom and grandmother have had cancerous spots removed.
I had a mole on my back removed bc it kept getting caught in zippers – ouch!!
Sophomore yr of college I had 2 big moles on my face removed bc I hated them. They stood out in photos and were ugly. I was sooooo much!!!
I went to the derm earlier this summer for a total body mole check. Doc said I was fine, that I was young and as long as I come once a year I’m good to go.
I’m having a coloniscpy the week after you! Good luck! I have random stomach pain and the sed rate in my blood test is elevated. Basically trying to rule out Chrohns and whatever else. my friend just had one – she’s been having bm multiple times a day and massive pain.
I’m having a col
i never got to comment, but i loved this post. and your honesty. and awesomeness.
i had an eye patch at the age of six. that sucked. then, general awkwardness (socially, physically, etc.) followed for many years. finally felt comfortable in my own skin late into college… or heck, maybe even after. it’s been a long, fun road but i think these trying adolescent/ childhood experiences make us stronger, more balanced adults. wouldn’t ya say? :)
I can totally relate to being teased when I was younger. I use to get made fun of for having big teeth when I was little. Funny thing is now, I get compliments on my teeth. And, I happen to love moles/freckles. When I was little I always wanted to be like my fair-skinned friends with freckles, so I would sometimes take a brown marker and put dots on my nose and cheeks! You are beautiful, moles or not!
Whoa I am SO behind on reading blogs. Anyway, this post was close to my heart just because I did skin cancer research for 3 years and became all sorts of interested in moles, or as they’re called in the dermatology world, nevi! (The singular is nevus, in case you want to call it that instead of MOLE!) I hope the couple you’ve had removed end up being OK, but I have to say I HATE that they use the terms “atypical” and “pre-cancerous” directly to patients, because they’re just confusing and make you more worried than you need to be. People like you probably have atypical nevus syndrome, which just means that you have lots of moles and a bunch of them are a bit “off” which statistically raises your risk of skin cancer, but it doesn’t mean that any moles are partially or sort of cancer. Having said that, it’s very smart for you to be getting checked out, because young ladies like ourselves are getting skin cancer earlier and earlier, and it’s always best to catch it asap.
One of my coworkers while I was working in dermatology developed melanoma on her leg, she was 32 at the time. It was caught early on, and she had no spreading to any lymph nodes, but the surgery to remove the full thing and test her nodes was pretty ugly, and caused her to be out of work for a couple of weeks. Now she’s got her health, but she’s sporting some really gnarly scars and a new outlook on life.
And yea, I just used the word gnarly. I figured that since you were taking us back to the 90s, the word deserved to be used ;)
Good luck with this, and awesome for you, that you were able to get past this and reflect on how insignificant moles are to your wonderful & beautiful self! :)
Oh and one more term that doctors use that I hate – “unremarkable”. They say it in relation to things being normal, so it’s generally a good thing, but come on! I had a brain MRI once due to some ear issue, and they wrote “unremarkable” all over the report. Jerks. ;P
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