One of the things I like about the dermatologist is he has his office in a building among a row of townhouses.

Once inside, you go up a flight and a half of stairs to reach his office.

One of the things I don’t like is he joined his practice to a corporate dermatology group. While that has certain advantages, it means I can’t reach his office with a phone call. Believe me, I tried. A few months ago I had a simple question about a prescription, but I could only reach the corporate offices via the phone, and they could not transfer me to the local office. I had to walk over there to get my question answered.

Anyway, I had my annual appointment on Thursday and it went well. Most of the exam was conducted by a new PA, and she did a good job. I only had two pre-cancerous lesions on my scalp, which the doctor freeze-dried with liquid nitrogen. Usually I have half a dozen.

But they also took note of the redness on my upper arms. This is nothing new, the doctor has commented on the redness before, as it’s been there for a few years. I’ve been treating it with a moisturizer cream daily, and every few months a steroid cream.

Now, however, even though they said it was probably nothing to worry about, they took a biopsy. The doctor numbed the upper arm and then he said he was taking a three millimeter sample. They’ll call me with the results next week.

I do have one question.

If all he took was a three millimeter sample, why is the bandage so big?