Rant #3,373: Cover Me

That lesion that I had on my head was removed, but it was not pre-cancerous.

If I heard the doctor correctly, it was already cancerous, and he froze it and scraped it out, so hopefully, I won't have to worry about this thing anymore.

I have to apply a lotion to it twice a day for at least a week, which will help in the skin healing, and I was told that I have to do one other thing to protect this spot:

I have to wear a hat for about the next month, until I see the doctor again.

When I was told this, I said to the nurse--

"No problem ... I will wear my baseball hat."

And that is exactly what I will do.

I have worn this particular hat--a New York Yankees hat, naturally--off and on for probably the last 40 or more years.

It was made in Bangladesh under the Puma name, and I have no idea if someone bought me this hat or if I purchased it myself.

All I know is that I have worn this hat off and on for several decades.

I have worn it in New York and in several other states that I have visited--as far south as Florida abd as far west as California--and I have also worn it overseas, in everywhere from Haiti to South Korea.

Its outside color is faded, and its inside has a very visible sweat stain, built up over time.

I have worn the hat both in and out of the water, in pools and in the ocean.

I have worn the hat at Yankee Stadium and at a variety of other stadiums and arenas.

It is a part of me at this point, and one day, I might just be buried in this hat--

If I don't lose it, which I have done on several occasions, only to find it almost as quickly as I lost it.

I have other baseball hats ... why continually wear this one?

Well, it has the interlocking "N" and "Y," so it is a hat showing my favorite team.

Otherwise, I don't really know ... I guess it fits my head well.

So yes, I have worn it when I was "balding," and I have worn it when I finally balded.

I just love the hat, and now, I am going to wear it as protection--

Not that I haven't already done that.

I have worn it to protect my scalp from the harmful effects of the sun for years, but with what I just had removed, it isn't foolproof, and things will get through--

Probably when i should have been wearing my hat, but wasn't doing that, for whatever reason.

And this week, with several projected days of 90-degree-and-above weather, I don't think that hat will be coming off my head when I am out of the house.

Today, at physical therapy, I had nowhere to put the hat, so I just wore it throughout my entire two-hour session.

And yes, I wore it in my car, because the hot sun can burn you through the windshield, so suffice it to say, it won't come off my head when I am outside.

So, it is literally not "Hats Off To Larry" for the next couple of weeks--sorry Del Shannon--but it will be "hats on" almost all the time during this period.

Nor will I be one of those "Men Without Hats" for now on, and i certainly won't be doing the "Safety Dance" anytime soon--

Until the doctor tells me that he got it all, and I don't have to worry about this thing ever again.