In a space of a blink of an eye, I injured my back, hurt my right foot, and need skin cancer surgery on my left shoulder.

One-two-three.

The phrase “things happen in threes,” especially “bad things happen in threes,” is a common superstition and an example of apophenia, the human tendency to find patterns where none may actually exist.

I have no idea how what happened to my back — one minute it was fine and the next minute it was so painful that I could hardly move without screaming, not that I let that stop me. Targeted stretching and yoga definitely helps, but it’s still a mystery. I can’t figure out what caused it.

My foot was a different story. First, it felt like there was a rock in my shoe, and when I checked, there wasn’t, but there was a lump on the bottom of my foot.

I remembered that’s a classic symptom of a plantar fibroma, so of course I Googled at-home treatments. One of the suggestions was that a massage ball would help, so that’s what I did. It not only didn’t work, but the nodule grew and my foot swelled up and it was so painful I couldn’t put any weight on it. The vigorous massaging made it a hundred times worse. I then re-read the treatment suggestion — which said to massage AROUND the lump, not directly ON it. Oops, my bad.

Plantar fibroma is a benign condition that causes fibrous nodules to form on the bottom of the foot, along the plantar fascia, the thick band of tissue that runs from the heel to the toes. 

I called my doc who told me to soak my foot in epsom salts and use a specialty pad to place around the now very painful growth area, and if that didn’t work, I’d need a steroid injection. Her non-invasive ideas are starting to be effective and the lump is slowly subsiding, which is great because I hate steroids.

Every six months I have a check up at the dermatologist’s office because I’ve had previous Mohs surgery for basal/squamous cell carcinoma. This time, she noticed an area of concern and performed a biopsy. When the results came back positive (not melanoma, thank goodness), she called to schedule a Mohs microsurgical removal. It’ll be difficult to use my left arm for a while until the sutures are removed, which is sort of annoying, but I’ll be happy to be cancer-free. I’m definitely paying the price for many summers at the beach with no sunscreen, just liberally applied baby oil and cocoa butter.

I’m not too sorry to say goodbye to August and hope for a healthy September!