I had a "severely atypical" mole removed. Here's the spiritual and life lessons I learned from it.
Let me start this blog by saying PLEASE book a dermatologist appointment to get a skin cancer screening asap! Over 9,500 people a day are diagnosed with skin cancer in the United States, but luckily the 5 year survival rate is 99.9% when detected early. A simple 30 minute visit once a year can make all the difference (even if it is a bit uncomfortable getting naked and having every inch of your skin searched). Here's what it was like having my first skin cancer screening, biopsies, and an excision; a few holistic and energetic practices I did to help my body heal; and the spiritual lessons I learned from it all!
ps. if you like to see medical stuff and don't mind a bit of blood, I show the whole healing progress of this mole > biopsy > stitches at the very end of this blog!
affiliate disclaimer: this blog contains affiliate links to books, products, and other resources I shared which may result in a small commission to me at no cost to you, but legally I have to say this. Anyways, back to the story....
This story starts last summer when I noticed a mole on my left forearm that would partially turn red whenever I was in the sun or working out. Strike one. It was also larger than an eraser, strike two, and had irregular borders...strike three.
That was 3 out of the 5 ABCDE's of melanoma present in this one mole. With me being white and a smidge Irish, I have quite a few moles and freckles which makes me an even higher risk for skin cancer. Combine that with my blonde hair and blue eyes...I didn't like the odds and knew I needed it checked immediately.
Unfortunately, this was around the time my wife was injured at work and lost her health insurance and I just turned 26 meaning I was no longer covered under my parents'. So I had to wait until we found coverage and then another six months on a waitlist to see a dermatologist.
(side note: learn from my mistake, don't wait if possible. Book an appointment today for a skin cancer screening. Most insurances cover all or at least part of your visit. There may also be walk up clinics in your area. Do some google research and get your skin checked!)
I have to be honest with you, those six months for waiting were filled with anxiety for me. Even as a mindset and emotions coach who literally teaches people for a living how to shift their thoughts and regulate their nervous system, I was struggling mentally.
Most nights I would fall asleep with the worst case scenario playing in my mind. Every day I had to lean on the tools I share like EFT Tapping, journaling, breath work, and just straight up faith in the Universe's plan. There was nothing I could do, but wait...which gave me the perfect opportunity to try all the holistic and energetic healing techniques I have been reading about for years.
Holistic Approaches I Used:
disclaimer: I am not a doctor or health care provider. These approaches I share below should be used alongside medical treatment and with permission from your provider. Please do you own research and use discernment for what is best for you.
First, I focused on the most common holistic approach - food! Anything with extra antioxidants to boost my immune system I ate daily like blueberries, cacao, etc. Foods with lots of sugar, alcohol, seed oils, or anything else that increases inflammation I avoided as much as possible. This could be a whole blog in itself, but wanted to mention it and remind you that food is indeed medicine. After all what you eat, you become! There is tons of research online for different foods to heal your body with that I highly recommend you look into, but the one I really wanted to share was garlic!
I found some studies suggesting raw garlic, particularly the allium in it, can boost your immune system and inhibit the growth of cancerous cells. Allium is also used in the popular scar cream Mederma which gave me even more faith in it to heal my skin. So every morning before my cup of coffee, I cut up a clove, waited 10 minutes (to help the allium gain potency), and swallowed chunks of it whole. I promise, you don't even taste it if taken like a pill, but you could also try hiding it in honey or fruit juice like I've seen others do online! This is also great for cold season or anytime you need a little immunity boost.
Second, I switched my skin and hair care products to natural options. It just makes the most sense to me if your skin is creating atypical cells to not put chemicals on it that could create more. This is something I have been doing slowly over the years (see this blog for some of the swaps I already made), but finally changed it ALL - face wash, shampoo bars, lotions, I even started using cinnamon as bronzer!
Coincidentally (or maybe divine intervention), while all this was happening, my mother in law, who had no idea about my upcoming skin cancer screening or me switching all my products, gave me a bunch of high quality oils like jojoba, pomegranate, and red raspberry seed oil. After some googling, I found studies supporting the use of pomegranate extract to prevent and even cure some cancers so I lathered it on my mole every night and visualized it healing as I did, but more on that later.