Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Scary Stuff

The first week in December my sister, Cheri, found out she had melanoma skin cancer. She went to a Dermatologist because she had 2 moles and she finally had health insurance and thought why not. The Dermatologist I guess looks over your entire body and they took a biopsy of 3 suspicious moles on my sister. There was one on her back that she didn't even know about. Then they told her if they called back in 2 weeks or less there was a problem. Well of course they called back the last day of the 2 weeks. The mole on her back the one she didn't go in for was the one that was in stage 3 cancer. I guess stage 4 is the worse kind of cancer that means it has spread to other parts of the body. I of course didn't have really any idea what melanoma skin cancer was so I googled it and found out everything. I guess that kind of skin cancer is the deadliest of all the skin cancers. It is also the most uncommon kind. I also found out that her children, parents, and siblings are 50% more likely to get it. That scared me enough to search my body over for any unusual moles.
She was scheduled a few days later Monday Dec. 8th to go back and get all the cancer removed. It was just in there Dr.s office. I guess they just numb the heck out of the area and dig away and then stitch it up. Anyway, lucky for us Fast Sunday was the day before so all the family had a special fast for her. I am happy to say she is now cancer free. I tell you it really makes you think about everything and start thinking about what ifs. I am happy she went to the Drs when she did and had health insurance at that time because she would have never gone if she didn't.

2 comments:

Beth Soelberg said...

WHOA! That is so scary! I'm glad Cheri's okay, and that she felt prompted (yes, I think it was a prompting!) to go to the dr.

Half the battle is just being aware, so stay vigilant. And isn't it great that the doctors could remove everything so easily??

And unrelated, but important - how COOL that you just got to go to WDW? :) Hope you had a great time!

Leanne said...

That sure is BIG scary news. I'm glad Cheri is cancer free now too. Tell her I'm thinking of her. I'm assuming she will have to go in for regular checks to make sure it doesn't come back or start with another mole. Rick has unusual moles too and I made him go in for it, but our Dr. (Liz L) said they seemed to be fine. I hope she was right. It can be very scary. I'll say some prayers for your family and I'm glad you are all aware now so that you can keep an eye out for suspicious moles.