For me, every month is for Melanoma Awareness!
I attended my first AIM fundraising walk in Alameda, CA. It was a great event. I met Samantha and Valerie...founding family of AIM. They had lost their sister / daughter 10 years ago to melanoma. It was very sobering that out of the (around) 150 people, there were about only 5-6 survivors. It reminded how horrible the odds are for people who are diagnosed with melanoma. The survival rate for my diagnosis, past 5 years is 10%. frightening. I did meet another stage IV survivor.
It is my 2 year anniversary being NED.
Stage I patients can go to stage IV in a heartbeat. I have read countless stories of people having a primary spot removed, being told it is gone, to receive a stage IV diagnosis later. I think that is why everyone and anyone who has had melanoma stays strong together. We support each other, no diagnosis is too small to push aside and not be important.
Melanoma is melanoma.
With Memorial day here, the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention has announced that tomorrow is "Don't Fry Day!" Check out http://skincancerprevention.org/programs/dont-fry-day for more info.
Please do not try to get a base tan for the summer. Please love the skin your are in...even if you are as pale as a ghost. Hail the Pale!
Remember, melanoma is more than skin cancer....the treatments are horrible and do not always work. For me, it did, and I will continue to help raise awareness for this disease. It is way more than just "skin cancer."
Here is what treatment is for "just skin cancer."
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