If you were given a second chance at something, what would you do with that opportunity? Would you be grateful and seize the moment to make things right in your world? Would you appreciate how lucky you were? Or would you pretend that it wasn’t a miracle and squander it? I’m thinking a lot about second chances today. Late last… Read more »
This past week, I was in San Francisco for work. At the end of a very long five days, I opted to stay the weekend to recharge before heading back to Austin. As you may recall, the last time I did this, I rented a car and drove north on California Highway 1. This time, I decided to point the… Read more »
It is my sixth month anniversary of my excision…Six months since the diagnosis of melanoma became real. I was aware of the fact that there was an invader in my system; but that morning, riding in the car with my husband and my parents to the dermatologist’s office, the fact that I had skin cancer was very real in a… Read more »
Amelanotic nodular melanoma obviously is one of the prime examples of skin cancer not arising from an existing mole. At least, in my experience, that is true. Now a study reported in June 2015 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting has added its voice. According to the analysis of researchers, they discovered that non-mole melanomas “tend to be… Read more »
So my every-3-months follow-up appointment was yesterday. After getting into the gown and then being poked and prodded by the doctor, she said, “Well, we’re still watching a few spots but nothing needs to be biopsied right now.” Wait, what? Really? No bullet holes? No anxious waiting for a week for a phone call? No wondering if the weird spot… Read more »
In 2 days, I have my second 3 month check-up with the dermatologist. It seems somewhat surreal that it’s been just about 6 months since my initial diagnosis. I can recall the entire telephone conversations with my doctor when she told me – it’s so fresh in my mind. But the intervening 180 days seem kind of like a blur… Read more »
For those of you that aren’t aware, I live in Austin, Texas. For years, we’ve been in the grip of an extreme drought. Changing climate conditions the past few weeks has brought a deluge of rain our way. Rain that was welcomed at first, but now we’ve experienced more rain in the past month that we got the entire first… Read more »
It has been a few days since the five-month mark of my amelanotic nodular melanoma excision. In a week or so, it’ll be the six-month mark from my diagnosis. Obviously, I get to celebrate that milestone with a visit to the dermatologist for my every-three-months check-up. At this point, I’m not exactly sure that she’ll find any moles that will… Read more »
I’m sure those of us dealing with some form of skin cancer saw the recent article (on Time.com no less) that up to 80% of the ingredients in sunscreen don’t really work or have ingredients that are “worrisome”. For someone who is counting on sunscreen to protect me and keep me healthy, this news is particularly “worrisome”. First the stats,… Read more »
This past weekend, a woman I was Facebook friends with passed away. And for whatever reason, I took it harder than I expected. I mean, I knew her mostly through electronic means. We met in person only once, but the steady stream of posts, images of her family, and her sharing of her illness made me feel closer to her… Read more »