February 4, 2021 – Before I get started, I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, support, and kind words. It means the world to me—and to my family.
Today’s message is The Beat Goes On, which, you might recall, is the title of a famous song (1967!) by Sonny & Cher. (You gotta love those haircuts and the furry vests in the song’s video.)
Waiting and Wondering
As I posted on Facebook, today’s scan results showed no changes—either positive or negative—and no new or questionable tumors. So, overall, it was a good day. I’ll certainly take “stable disease” over anything negative. Frankly, I was hoping to see some significant reduction in my right adrenal gland tumor, but immunotherapy treatments can be a long and exhausting fight.
So, the beat goes on.
Round 7
Today’s visit to the West Cancer Center was long but seemed to go by quickly. A lot of waiting and wondering. It was an afternoon filled with lab work, IV insertion, contrast dye, CT scan, office consultation, and, of course, my seventh infusion of Keytruda.
According to the nurse practitioner, my lab results (blood work, etc.) looked great, so my body continues to tolerate the Keytruda. As I’ve written previously, how your body processes the medicine is almost as important as whether or not the medicine is working. And, yes, I suffer from side effects—a lot of them—but they could be worse, much worse.
So, the beat goes on.
And The Beat Goes On…
So, the beat goes on…in my melanoma journey and in the world. As our lives get back to normal—or, what passes for normal nowadays—I sincerely hope that everyone remains healthy, happy, and safe. We all need to take a deep breath, slowly let it out, and look forward to enjoying the things that really matter.
Anyway, thanks for listening, and in the immortal words of Sony Bono…La de da de de, la de da de da.
And the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on
And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on
The beat goes on, and the beat goes on
Note: My apologies if you end up with this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
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Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis. No set schedule. So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.
March 13, 2020 – It’s appropriate that today is Friday the 13th. It’s now been two (2) weeks since I had a silver-dollar sized (see picture below) chunk from my lower right calf removed. It’s a procedure called a wide local excision. The diagnosis was melanoma in situ – which means the tumor was “situated” and had not yet spread. Another term used is Stage 0. We caught it early. That was the good news.
Unfortunately, it was another skin melanoma. That makes nine (9). So, I’m…
…Not a Happy Camper
Yeah, I’m not a happy camper. I didn’t put much out on Facebook about this latest melanoma diagnosis. In fact, I bundled my recent diagnosis together with a post about my family and the Leap Year Weekend. We had so many fun, neat things happen that week and weekend that I didn’t want to dampen it with my sad situation.
But, in general, I’m just pissed right now, and I need to vent – gripe. If there’s a silver lining to this it’s that I decided to have that mole checked earlier than my scheduled dermatology appointment. If I had waited until later in March, I may have delayed the visit. That wouldn’t have been good. I’m lucky and, right now, I’m okay.
And I’ll Get Over It
I think with everything going on here at home and around the world (see upcoming post titled Corona Blues) – we’re all overwhelmed. And I’m no exception. I try to remain positive, but it’s difficult right now.
Strange days ahead. So, one suggestion for everyone is – Don’t Believe the Hype!
Note – For those of you scoring from home, the photo on the right shows a quarter, a Liberty half dollar, and a Liberty “silver” dollar (Ike’s profile on one side). For those of you under the age of forty-five, yes, the half-dollar and “silver” dollar were actual coins minted by the US Treasury. My lovely excision is about the size of the Liberty “silver” dollar.
Thanks, as always, for listening.
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| Apparently Flava Flav hasn’t had a good March either. |
Note: If you want to leave a comment, just choose “Anonymous” from the Profile Selection drop down bar right below the Comment box. (It’s the very last choice.) Sorry for any confusion.
Also, please make sure you leave your name or sign-in somewhere in your comment. Thanks.
Writer’s Note – I’ll continue to update my blog on a periodic basis. No set schedule. So, I want to thank everyone who continues to stop by and check out my blog. Please leave a comment or message; I’d love to hear from you.
