Thursday, February 9, 2012

Livin' It


This is my way of apologizing for not writing lately. Life has been busy with non-melanoma related activities (also known as work and little else!) I don't know if it is the stress from work or maybe a side effect of the drug I am possibly receiving, but by the end of the day, I have no energy left. I have been completely worthless every evening. Poor Mr. Spots has been stuck cooking (normal) and cleaning (not normal) all by himself. He has yet to complain..I am thankful.

Yesterday I experienced something I wish I had not have had to cross of my non-existent bucket list. I had a gun flashed at me by an angry patient at work. Do you know what I did when he flashed the gun, while saying, "You don't argue with a man with a gun."? I laughed. Not a ha-ha-ha laugh, but a nervous chuckle, and replied, "Definitely not." I think he was simply trying to intimidate me, I don't think he was going to actually harm me, so I went about my job without causing a scene. All I could think was, "You have got to be kidding me."

And then I thought "Why do I always laugh when scary things happen?" As you may remember, I actually laughed a ha-ha-ha laugh when the dermatologist told me my mole was melanoma. It was a bit awkward when the nurse had to stop me from laughing and tell me that he was actually serious. Oops.

Is anyone else realizing that my life is really starting to resemble a soap opera?

Even with the crazy aspects, the no good days, the stress from work, I know that I am so lucky to be here living a normal life with normal every day problems. A day when I can complain about a rude patient or a sore throat is a good day for me.

Life certainly has changed.

*Oh, I received an email from a very sweet young lady who thought I would enjoy listening to this interview of a stage IV melanoma warrior and her experience with a clinical trial at Sloan Kettering. Thanks, Annika! I really did find it interesting!)

6 comments:

Do-it-right said...

I just stumbled upon your blog and your writing is very interesting. Its good to learn that you have melanoma in remission.
You seem to have had multiple surgeries. Did you have multiple lesion sites? At what stage of melanoma were you diagnosed? Do you have pictures of your moles before your surgeries? What treatment did you take?
Sorry to bombard you with so many questions. My close friend has been very recently diagnosed with melanoma and I am very inquisitive to learn more.

Annika said...

Glad I could share some information with you! Continue to be the inspiration you are!! :-)

Rich McDonald said...

I'm so glad your life is not revolving around melanoma. And thanks for sponsoring me in the AIM walk. Take care.

Chelsea said...

So sorry to hear about your friend. If you browse through my blogs, you'll see one or two pictures of my original melanoma. I did not take a picture of it before the appointment because the dermatologist told me he was just removing it to be safe, he did not believe it was anything to be concerned with. I was diagnosed with stage III melanoma last January. It had spread to multiple lymph node basins which is why I originally was cut in 4 separate lymph node basins. I had full lymph node dissections under left arm and right side of my neck. You will find all the information through out my blog. Best wishes to you.

Chelsea said...

:-) Continue to do what YOU do so that people like me will have many more opportunities. YOU inspire me!

Erin said...

Oh dear lord, a gun!? I would have freaked! And I'm super glad to hear that the young mother on Facebook chose not to tan. Pale is WAY cooler! :)