MYDEE ANN's blog

My story....

MYDEE ANN — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:35:14 -0400

Hello Everyone! This is my story.... I was a "tan worshipper" all my life, the darker the better. I did the tanning beds and stayed outdoors as much as I could. I did so without sunscreen, because I didn't think that I was the typical candidate for skin cancers. Guess what? I was so wrong, and my life is now at risk because of it! I was first diagnosed with malignant melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) in August of 2004. I was treated with surgical removal at that time, and was told that I caught it early. I should be okay, I would just have to see the doctor every 3 months for monitoring. Here I am, I had recovered, and I am living life. I was taking my life for granted. I never thought that what I was about to experience would ever happen to me. Again, there is that mentality, "not me"! In July of 2007, in a matter of 4 days, I had a large knot appear on my left inner thigh/groin area. This was the side that I first had the melanoma, uh oh, could it be, surely not! Those were my thoughts. In fear, I contacted my doctor, and the process began. A week later, I received the call, "Darci, it is melanoma, and we need to get you into surgery right away!"...... My world changed in a blink of an eye..... I had surgery 3 days later. Once I healed from that, I began Immunotherapy. This has been the hardest time of my life, and believe me, I have had to struggle all my life with issues! But, this, this cancer, has dealt me another blow, and a forceful one. I continued my treatment as ordered, and faced so many harsh side effects, sometimes thinking to myself, "I am dying, I literally feel like I am dying!" I was taken off the Interferon therapy after 4 months of treatment, due to the ill effects that it was doing to my body. I was supposed to have a full 1 yr. course of this treatment, but that is not occuring. This was the only treatment that my Oncologist could offer me, and the rate of success in keeping the melanoma at bay, was only 10-15%! Not much huh?! No, but it is the only thing that I could do, to keep me from going into stage IV. I am now, stage III. The problem is that there isn't enough out there for us Melanoma patients. There are clinical studies, and this is a hope for me! I want to live life for a long, long time! I want to do all that I can to survive this disease! I want others who suffer with this deadly disease to be able to do the same! So, besides my fighting for my own life, I want to fight for others also... So, my starting point is to educate and getting the facts known! Everyone automatically understands what a pink ribbon represents, and I want the same for the Black Ribbon!!! Black stands for "Black Tumor", this is Melanoma, so let's sport the black too!!! It is a neutral color and goes with everything that you wear!!!!!!! Also, the Weeping Willow is a symbol for Melanoma, just a little tid-bit!! Educate your family and friends on this deadly disease, and don't think that it can't happen to you! I am a perfect example to that! You can and you could possibly, so please, don't chance it! Your life is so much more important than anything else in life!!!! Enjoy it, and never take it for granted..... Darci

My story....

MYDEE ANN — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:35:08 -0400