The Verdict

Healthy!

Nothing to worry about this year, at least, nothing out of the ordinary. I have many atypical moles on my back, all of which need to be examined every couple of months for changes, but nothing today was overly worrisome. According to the doctor, having had one melanoma in the past puts me at an 8 times higher risk of developing another one in the future. And having atypical moles puts me at a 12 times higher risk. I'm a big, walking risk factor. She carefully outline how quickly melanomas can mestastisize and once they do, there is not much that can be done. I was lucky to have found my melanoma so quickly, before it spread. No radiation, chemo, or anything. Just an excision and a dime-sized dimple on my breast.

Being at the cancer clinic is always humbling, as I am going in there for a checkup with the assumption that I will walk out as healthy as when I walked in. I am overtly aware that this is not the case for many - if not most - of the patients there. My mother was a oncology nurse for many years and always said, in a similar vein, how lucky she felt every day, working with the patients with whom she worked. Today, I am lucky and I can only hope that when I walk back out of those clinic doors next time, it will be with the same relief I feel today.

I remember reading a segment on Eva Cassidy, a talented singer who, at the age of 33, died of advanced melanoma. For her, it happened quite suddenly, as it does for many people. The oncologist today told me to take pictures of my back and all the places I can't see and have Z do a comparison check every month or two, just to be sure nothing has grown or changed. I nodded earnestly, promising I would. She's heard this line from me before.

"Make it a priority this week," she said. "It's important to catch these things early."

Another earnest nod.

"If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your family. Do it so you can live a long life for your children."

Sound familiar?

This resonated with me. It chilled me. It's something I have said on this very blog. I'll have Z take the comparison pictures this weekend, and this time, I mean it.