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Sunday, January 10, 2016

Malignant Melanoma Part IV

The pathology report came back and the surgeon says it all looks good, we did catch it early and we had good margins all the way around the cancer and he is confident that we got it all. So a follow up visit with the dermatologist in three months, then every six months and a follow up visit with the surgeon every six months. 

So I guess I should update my profile to show that I am a cancer survivor twice over now. 

With serious things like cancer and I am assume other similar serious things you have all of these emotions and feelings that can be all over the place. All of them are hard to express and to share with anyone who has not been through it. You go through lows and highs, from incredibly sad to joyful and most of the time things are what they are. You still (at least in the places I have been so far) have to work and carry on your life as normal as you can, like nothing is really happening. But something is really happening and yet you still have to show up for your 40+ hours every week, still have to do your job and as long as things have not gotten really bad you still have to keep on keeping on, when what you really want to do is stop the merrygoround and get off for a while, take a break from work and other activities; but our society does not work that way.

It is a shame that when you have had something serious in your life that there is not a few weeks of mental health leave available. It is also a shame that most of us do not make enough to be able to take a few weeks of unpaid leave for that needed break. No, we keep working  and try to deal with everything without any kind of break. Some days that is ok and other days it can really be tough.

If you have a friend or family member who has been through something rough, something traumatic, do those little things day to day that remind them that you are there for them, that you love them and that you are not going anyplace. I have that kind of support and I really hope that you do too.

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