Melanoma Monday
Since May 4th is Melanoma Monday (https://www.aad.org/spot-skin-cancer/community-programs-events/melanoma-monday)and the whole month is Skin Cancer detection and prevention month. I have an excuse to write less of an opinionated blog but an informative one. This month is also this:
National Women’s Check-up Day (May 12)
National Women's Health Week (May 10–16)
So get checked up on friends.
I've been thinking for a little what I would write in order to spread some awareness about Melanoma. (http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/melanoma)I don't want to boss but educate. Mainly because my story was one of complete ignorance to something that is now a huge part of my life. Whether I can just bring some light about skin cancer, or some information in the quality of taking better care of ourselves in general that's my goal. I always knew of skin cancer, but never the risks. I think I could say that everyone has heard or been threatened by some news of skin cancer. I did not know of the dangers of Melanoma specifically, and I think that there are many people uneducated about the dangers of skin cancers and Melanoma. I was the first one out there that loved the sun, never burned, and thought sunscreens had worse chemicals that being all natural. I chose to do what was not the best option, bake in the sun, and never put sunscreen on my never-burning but sensitive skin. It has been proven that staying out of the sun and protecting yourself with sunscreen and natural blockers decreases the risk of getting skin cancer. Whether or not my specific mole came from the sun or not, we all need to do a better job of taking care of our skin, the largest organ of our body. I'm never going to have a lot of answers, such as what causes any cancer, but regardless there are things we can always be doing to take better care of what we have been given. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. I often failed in this department, living as thought I was invincible and I was totally uneducated to the specifics of Melanoma skin cancer. Since my diagnosis both of my parents have had skin cancers removed. Both basal cells, and with removal not dangerous. Guess skin cancer runs in my family, but apparently I didn't get the warning sign, I was the warning sign.
Melanoma is Cancer. It's not just skin cancer, I hear that clarified often. Basal cell (http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/basal-cell-carcinoma)and Squamous cell (http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/squamous-cell-carcinoma)are almost always cured when treated and removed. Melanoma is the only skin cancer that can metastasize to other parts of your body, except for a few very rare cases. It does not spread superficially like basal and squamous, but it spreads in depth. This allows it to reach deep into the dermis the layers of your skin and into your lymph, where then cancer cells can run havoc anywhere in the body they want to travel. Sounds terrifying right? I had no clue. It is terrifying. There isn't really a month set aside in my life that from now on I won't be "aware" of my cancer. There is no cure for Melanoma but with surgery and some drugs that help ignite the immune system to fight lives are being saved. Melanoma can show up years after an initial diagnosis especially once its proved to reach the lymph nodes, or it can never show its ugly face again. It haunts and instills fear, it's a nightmare with no cure, and although so many are uneducated, they are not immune. The earlier the diagnosis of Melanoma the better. Since it grows deep it is hard to tell from the naked eye what the true condition of the cancer is until it has been removed.
I have heard such uplifting and encouraging stories about how many of my people have gone to the dermatologist to get checked. I think that is the only point I am trying to make in this writing. I knew my mole needed to be removed, but there are so many that don't look dangerous. A professional can help detect melanoma on your skin, if you have a family history, and if your skin could be more problematic. With a dermatologist then you can be more easily monitored to catch it early. That is the key. Catching this beast early can mean life or death. There are actually great statistics for rates of survival with in situ or stage 1 and 2 melanomas. It makes a HUGE difference, trust me. If you don't trust me, because well I am not that specialist, go and see one, you will be happy you did it.
http://www.melanoma.org/get-involved/advocacy-initiatives/get-naked
Take care of your skin, its the largest organ in your entire body. I never looked at it like that. I never did a good job of taking care of it either. Melanoma or not I could have always done a better job. It shouldn't take a skin cancer awareness ribbon, or a super scary and life changing cancer diagnosis for someone to decide to protect and take better care of themselves. I'm here though, in this place. I'm going to make changes now because doing it will help save my life. I knew nothing prior to my diagnosis about Melanoma. When I was called by the doctor and told I had it, I knew it wasn't good, but had no idea how "not good" this was going to be. I was ignorant. uneducated, and arrogant. I had no idea the possibilities of Melanoma and the wide array of stages and disease. I was clueless to how dangerous Melanoma can be and how easily it metastasizes and destroys. I had a small mole, that wasn't there very long, and it traveled into my lymph very quickly.
But, consider the alternative. Though melanoma — if caught early — is treatable and an affected person’s long-term prognosis can be favorable, risk remains even after the cancerous cells are removed. Per the American Cancer Society:
Stage IA: 5-year survival rate: 97%; 10-year survival: 95%
Stage IB: 5-year survival rate: 92%; 10-year survival: 86%
Stage IIA: 5-year survival rate: 81%; 10-year survival: 67%
Stage IIB: 5-year survival rate: 70%; 10-year survival: 57%
Stage IIC: 5-year survival rate: 53%; 10-year survival: 40%
Stage IIIA: 5-year survival rate: 78%; 10-year survival: 68%
Stage IIIB: 5-year survival rate: 59%; 10-year survival: 43%
Stage IIIC: 5-year survival rate: 40%; 10-year survival: 24%
Stage IV: 5-year survival rate: 15-20%; 10-year survival: 10-15%
The key to survival, obviously, is EARLY DETECTION!
The only purpose in posting those statistics is for a clear picture of how great the chances are if you catch and remove your melanoma early. To do this it takes action on our part. So here I am now, having learned more everyday since August 7th. I've chosen to read more, ask more questions, and connect with others fighting the same battle as me, some with better statistics some with worse, but we don't define us by that. For most of us that's just a number to beat. I've joined support groups and met some of the strongest people I know, all doing this melanoma cancer thing with me. I baked in the sun so many days of my life, sure it may have had much to do with my melanoma, but my doctor wasn't even sure of that. The point will never be to go back and think of what was anymore or may have caused all this, but to educate and try to tell my story so that no one else makes the same mistakes and ends up with a their story like mine. I've put off many things in my life and other things I have made a priority. Thankfully seeing a dermatologist was always necessary and a priority.
I feel confident now that this story of mine was always going to be. This path would never be which one I would have chosen but I have learned already so many valuable things, been so much more aware of my health, and seen God working so clearly. This is from another Blogger, on a journey with Stage 3b Melanoma just like me. She is strong in her words, and her faith. I loved this excerpt on Melanoma Monday.
"I travel this road with fellow warriors of all stages who have melanoma. We're an awesome group of people and just thinking about them fills my eyes with tears and my heart with love. We are a rainbow of people, battle scarred but not battle weary. We've always got fight in us and we're not going down without one helluva one. We're tough as nails and soft as marshmallows. We'll tell you where to get off but we'll also tell you where to get on. We don't suffer fools gladly but we'll suffer what's on our plate because it's there. We have compassion but don't tell us what you "can't do." We don't like whining. Unless it's our own and it's a well-deserved pity party. Even then we don't like it and apologize for it, but we work through it and move on. Because every day is Melanoma Awareness Day for us we work through what we're feeling and move on. We may move on from a good place or we may be in a really hard place, but we stay on the move. We've got lives to lead, battles to fight, awareness to spread, and the world to conquer.
Because this is so personal to us and because everyone we see has skin, we who live with melanoma every day are always on the lookout for fresh, innovative ways to celebrate Melanoma Awareness Day. It will begin, in earnest, next month. But people don't just have skin one month a year. We don't just have melanoma one month a year either. People who have buried loved ones who died from melanoma don't grieve one month a year. Ever." Carol Taylor
Because this is so personal to us and because everyone we see has skin, we who live with melanoma every day are always on the lookout for fresh, innovative ways to celebrate Melanoma Awareness Day. It will begin, in earnest, next month. But people don't just have skin one month a year. We don't just have melanoma one month a year either. People who have buried loved ones who died from melanoma don't grieve one month a year. Ever." Carol Taylor
http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts#melanoma
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