Eleven years ago I had a mole removed from one of my arms. It was a mole I’d had for most of my life up to that point but it was starting to feel tender and so I thought it better to have it gone just in case.

I went to my GP at the time and went through the process. It was a bit of a cut and the mole had deep roots but it went smoothly. Didn’t feel it or the stitches going in, but I did feel the tugging of the stitching and that was odd. Bandaging was applied shortly after and then I was on my way.

Thankfully the mole wasn’t cancerous.

Two weeks later I went back to my GP to have the stitching removed. They took it out, told me to be careful as the cut was still healing and I then headed off to work. Two hours later whilst I was at my desk the cut suddenly split open and filled with blood.

I headed back to my GP who dressed the opening and put some sort of tape on it to hold it together. They then told me to come back every second day (I remember it being that, though it might’ve been every third day) as, due to what had happened it would need to be monitored and possibly redressed. I went home after that as it was a ten minute walk and I’d gotten the rest of the day off due to what happened.

I can’t remember if I called work to tell them what my GP told me, or if I told work the following day when I went back in, though I’m fairly certain I would’ve called… Anyway, I told work what I was told and it wasn’t something they were happy with; to be specific, my manager at the time was not happy as it meant I wouldn’t be working as much for a short bit of time.

I’d have to leave work early to get to my GP at a reasonable time and my manager put pressure on me to make going through the process finish sooner, or to try and get my GP to change their mind. I was full-time, but my job was not so important that doing what my GP instructed would cause unmanageable issues.

That was a needlessly stressful place to work.

Anyway, I listened to my GP and the tape was reapplied and eventually my skin healed as properly as it could. There’s a scar that, after all these years remains quite visible and that’s fine. It still feels weird to touch, and sometimes I miss my mole. Better to be safe than sorry though.