FIGHTING Shadows of the BEAST

As I head into the 5th year of being NED I still ponder how being handed a death sentence affected my family and my life.  How it almost took me from my daughter, husband, sisters, mother, and friends. We were all affected in an indescribable way.

In the melanoma community, this cancer is often called the beast. It is a black beast that seeps into the corners of our bodies, eating away at us while we sleep and eat and often not showing itself until it is too late.  Many people do not even find a primary location for this ugly monster becomes everyone's worst nightmare.

SCANXIETY comes every 6 months when I check out of the regular world and drive to the cancer center to get results from x-rays & blood work. During that time I am again a patient... sitting in a small doctor's office, praying that I do not see the look on my doctor's face that indicates the beast has returned. During that time, I plan how I will proceed if it is indeed back.... how will I tell my family?

I am SO VERY BLESSED that this has not happened, and with every visit I am told there was nothing exciting about any of my tests!  I get to live another day!

That is when I think of those who do not get the same news and I tears and joy and sadness slide down my cheeks.

EVERY day that I survive I wonder if a new pain is the beast, returned to finished what it started. EVERY day I choose LOVE & A POSITIVE ATTITUDE in order to continue to be NED.
EVERY day I am alive is a FIGHT against MELANOMA.

I will continue to spread the message that skin cancer is SO MUCH more than "just skin cancer" and I will cringe every time someone says that to me, because it is a horrible-horrible cancer, just like any other cancers....... and I will spread HOPE as much as I can.

I am just one person, who has a passion to spread HOPE and AWARENESS as much as I can.

STAND TOGETHER

Today was the AIM Walk / RUN to raise $$ for melanoma research and awareness. I met 2 brave women who are in the trenches of fighting melanoma!  I know what it feels like to be in their shoes and I realize the benefit of standing together and supporting one another in the fight against cancer!  

I am happy to be HERE and BE ALIVE to lend what support I can, by standing with other FIGHTERS.  

WE WILL FIGHT ON & STAND TOGETHER!
#WatchOutMelanoma2015

SHOUT OUT for ALL CANCER WARRIORS!!

Today I ran..... every step I took I dedicated to someone fighting cancer and / or someone who passed.

I run for Jillian.... she passed away in December of 2012..... I run for Tina who fought while I did...with a different outcome ..... I run for Steve Martin who endured biochemo and made it to NED, & Suzanne, Mark, and Rich!!  I run for my facebook friend Jennifer, who has been fighting and living with brain mets down under!  

You cannot see all our scars...but we have them.

I run for ALL fighters out there!!

Melanoma is more than JUST SKIN CANCER & IT KILLS!!

JUST A REMINDER for everyone who thinks you can just cut it out!

gone too soon....

you are missed everyday

Every month is Melanoma Awareness Month for me.....

As with so many other melanoma survivors, melanoma awareness month is every month for me. I am always trying to think of ways to spread awareness and am always caught off guard when people seem surprised that I almost died from skin cancer.

I am not shy about my experiences with melanoma and tell anyone and everyone. Recently, a coworker mentioned a friend telling her that his parent had skin cancer and it turned into another cancer in his liver and he was getting checked to see if it had gone to his brain.  Sounds like melanoma to me!!!

How do we get the word out that melanoma is WAY more than "JUST SKIN CANCER!!"  ???

HOW DO WE GET PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND A SUNBURN CAN BE SO DANGEROUS??

I am not quite sure..... most people do not want to talk about cancer.

I know it is hard to talk about cancer.  I do not want to talk about it, but my life depends upon being knowledgeable about cancer. My life will always take me to a cancer center for scan results, which I PRAY will always show I am NED.

I am not sure how to tell people and convince them that melanoma is so much more than just something you can cut out. IT IS DEADLY.