The Assertive Cancer Patient

Now It's Rocky Friday ...

Thank you to everyone who wrote expressing concern about poor GB, who swallowed two large rocks last weekend and had emergency surgery on Monday to remove the larger one. (He threw up the 2-inch rock on my bedroom floor Sunday night.)

GB developed pneumonia from aspirating fluid into his lungs, and his esophagus is also damaged by the rocks and the attempts to get rid of them, so he is still at the vet. His doctor has treated him with cortisone and also antibiotics.

At first, we thought he would be home in a day or two, so when the vet said, "You can visit him," I said no, because I thought GB would think I was there to take him home and it would be tougher for him to have to stay.

But after three days of phone reports, I couldn't stand it, so I stopped by to see him yesterday.

They had him in a run, with blankets on the floor, and an IV in his right front leg for fluids. He hadn't been eating, but they gave him 2 tablespoons of food yesterday and he kept that down. I think that was the first food he'd had since this whole drama began on Sunday.

So I went into his run with him and sat down on the floor to cuddle him, and the pooch, all 70 pounds of him, crawled on my lap. He needed a hug. So I sat there stroking him as he wheezed and heaved, just kind of spasms at this point.

Talked to his vet, and asked the Big Question, "So, he will get better, right?" To be told, "Well, pneumonia is pretty serious."

Came home and hung out with Constant (Connie), my dog, for the rest of the day. Connie is not quite sure what is going on, he seems to be missing GB, and I can't explain it to him, obviously.

Here's a link to a post that a reader sent. It falls into several categories: humor, skin cancer, and also "dogs who eat things they shouldn't":

Her tombstone will read WAS SOLD TO BUTCHER

See also:

Rocky Monday ...

But WHY Do Dogs Eat Rocks?

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

It Was Melanoma Monday, and I Didn't Even Realize ...

I saw my dermatologist on Monday for my regular skin check (every six months), and I didn't even realize that Monday, May 5, the day I went in, was "Melanoma Monday."

That's because my dermatologist didn't have the office draped in ribbons and banners to celebrate skin cancer the way my cancer center does in October, which is breast cancer awareness month.

I wasn't sure the exact name for this melanoma month, so I checked in with Carver, who has had melanoma, and sure enough it has several slightly different names:

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month but is also sometimes called Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness Month, probably because melanoma doesn't always originate on the skin.

Also I've seen in called Melanoma Awareness Month by melanoma groups but it's all skin cancers and all forms of melanoma (or that's what most campaigns cover). I double checked and the AAD calls it Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month

Melanoma Monday is always the first Monday in May ... and that was started by the American Academy of Dermatology to call attention to melanoma, and a lot of places have free skin cancer screenings on that day.

Black is the official color for melanoma. Some groups have tried to promote another color thinking that's grim, but black is the official one and most melanoma bracelets are black.

So get your black ribbons and bracelets, folks!

For more information: Melanoma Monday

To read more about skin cancer on this blog: Skin Cancer Click on the link and then scroll down.

My dermatologist did think one mole, on the back of my left leg, was suspicious, but rather than do the punch biopsy he decided to go straight to the wide excision, given my melanoma history. So I have to make an appointment to go back in and have that done.

I'd better call this morning and set that up. Too many medical appointments again lately. They make me anxious. Also take up too much time. Sigh. That's life with cancer.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A Melanoma Diagnosis

I woke up this morning to find an e-mail from a young woman (35) who was just diagnosed yesterday with melanoma. She had found my blog, and was writing to ask for advice.

She's the mother of four young children, and was feeling very afraid and freaked out. "I'm driving myself crazy and it's day one," she wrote. "I'm looking for some advice about how to handle the stress and worry."

Well, I don't usually like to give advice, but I couldn't ignore this one. Here's my answer.

I'm laughing, but very gently, so don't be offended. This is how I felt when I was first diagnosed--with breast cancer and then later with melanoma. Of course you're afraid. Of course you are checking every single mole! I still do that, even though my doctor also checks them every few months--but I found the first one, so I figure that I am most likely to find any more.

I have lots of moles too, and freckles, so there's a lot to keep me busy.

So, this is what I think--

This stage of cancer treatment is the worst, trust me on that. When you first find out, and you're afraid, and you are worrying about your kids, and you haven't had treatment yet.

I think the best way to deal with it is to acknowledge it. Admit that you are scared stiff. Talk about it, if that's what you want to do, or ignore it publicly, but admit to yourself that you are scared.

If it helps you to get information, I would do that, but there is lots of scary info on the Web, and a fair amount that's not accurate, so be careful.

Then, I think, you have to be gentle with yourself until you've had the excision, and don't expect too much of yourself--because this level of background stress and fear can make you really tired and unable to cope with daily life. But you won't realize that until you have a meltdown in public (done that too), so be gentle with yourself.

If the stress and anxiety don't level off once you've had the cancer removed, I would consider seeing a therapist of some kind who can help you with these issues. I've had a therapist hypnotize me and make me a tape so I could do self-hypnosis on a daily basis when I was really stressed, and I take small doses of anxiety and depression meds--they help keep me on an even keel. And I see a therapist once a week.

You can find someone who specializes in working with cancer patients--they often can be really helpful. And don't feel embarrassed about this either--lots of times people are hard on themselves when they need this kind of help, I know I was in the beginning.

I hope this helps. Please let me know how things go, and if you feel like leaving comments on my blog, I have some great folks who read the blog--many of them have cancer blogs of their own--and you'll get some great support there too.

So, readers, please chime in if you have suggestions about living with fear.

Oh, and here's something I forgot, the link to a story I wrote several years ago:

Running With Fear

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Skin Cancer? Use the "Ugly Duckling Test"

You don't have to be a doctor to spot a malignant melanoma, if you apply the "ugly duckling test," according to a report from Reuters Health.

The ugly ducklings are moles that look different from a person's other moles, and they are easy to spot, even without medical training.

Read the report:

"Ugly duckling" sign spots most malignant melanomas

I would go even further, because two doctors, including a dermatologist and a medical oncologist, told me the melanoma I had last year was nothing to worry about. But I didn't agree, and persisted. (It looked different from all my other moles: an ugly duckling, in other words.) As a result, when it was removed--and diagnosed as malignant melanoma--it was very thin, although still invasive.

So far, my checkups have found no other skin cancers, but I see my dermatologist every six months now, just to be sure.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

A Message for Cory

Cory: Camille e-mailed me this message to post for you, because she was having trouble leaving a comment on my blog. Jeanne

Hi Cory,

I was diagnosed in May. Stage 1, clark level 2, 0.51mmdeep, no ulceration and less than one mitosis. I am still so scared everyday! I check my lymph nodes, spots...I hope it will subside and that I will be able to get my life back. It is strange that we never hear of actresses/actors who had a brush with melanoma? SURELY IT HAPPENS TO THEM TOO... What I read on the Internet is confusing and even medical studies all contradict themselves. This appeal for melanoma survivors is great!!!I just fear that as Jeanne said, people who had a brush with melanoma do not blog about it...

Kind regards

Camille

My original post:
Calling All Melanoma Survivors!

Calling All Melanoma Survivors!

Attention, melanoma survivors: A reader needs your help.

Cory, a young woman who had a melanoma removed four years ago, writes that she lives in constant fear of a recurrence, even though she is doing everything she can to make sure that doesn't happen. She writes, "... there is a not a day that doesn't go by that I don't fear melanoma is somewhere in my body undetected."

Cory also wrote that a doctor told her that melanoma doesn't always show up as a mole, but can be internal, too. And she asks, "How do you detect that?"

Cory, I'm going to answer this one. The answer is, you need to ask your doctor that question. And you might want to ask how likely that is to happen to a woman like you who has had one melanoma removed and no recurrence in four years. I think he will tell you the chances are slim, but you'll feel better if you know.

And here is Cory's request:
"A person blogged on here that you never hear of people that have survived a melanoma and lived a long life talk about it...those are the people I want to find. Where are you?!?!?

Step up and tell your story to others that still struggle."

So, please, if you have had melanoma, and can give Cory some reassurance, please leave a comment below or shoot me an e-mail and I will forward it.

jeanne.sather@gmail.com

Rogue Cancer Smuggler Survives Pat-Down

Amorette came up with those great words to describe a skin-cancer checkup, which involves changing into a backless gown (See Prostate Cancer Ken: The Back View) and lying on a table while the doctor uncovers you a section at a time to check every inch of skin.

Amorette's image: "I think of myself as a rogue cancer-smuggler being patted down at the airport."

So, I am happy to report that I survived the pat-down, and my doctor didn't spot anything suspicious this time. So no cancer-smuggling charges were laid.

On the way home, I picked up three homeless, motherless kittens to foster. These are bottle-babies, only about three weeks old, so be prepared for lots of cute kitten photos in the days and weeks to come.

My work with Animal Talk Rescue is one of the two volunteer things I do. The other is teach Japanese at First Place, a grade school for kids who have been homeless.

Several friends have pointed out that I seem to have a theme going here: homeless kids, homeless kittens. It's true. I tend to gravitate toward innocents in distress.

Doesn't mean I don't like grownups ...

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

Melanoma Checkup

Well, thank god for voice mail, or I might have skipped my six-month melanoma checkup this afternoon. (And the sky would have fallen. Not.)

But when I cleared the home phone of 10 voice-mail messages this morning (only two of which I cared about), there was a message reminding me of my appointment.

Of course, there was some confusion in my mind, because the message-leaver gave a different doctor's name, one I don't know, but when I checked my calendar (turn the page, girl) there it was: an appointment with Dr. Grabowski at 2 p.m.

So here I am, still in my jammies at 12:11 p.m. on a clear but blustery day, feeling resentful about having to give up short daylight hours to this appointment. And, as I said to my friend, the Cheeky Librarian, in an e-mail just now, Sometimes I want to hide under the bed and PRETEND I DON'T HAVE CANCER!

Yes, using all caps is rude. It means I'm shouting. But I am shouting, inside my head, at least.

Argh. Time to get dressed and act like a cancer patient. Maybe I'll take the Corvair, with the top down. That would cheer me up.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

News I Can Use: Coffee, Exercise, and Skin Cancer

Coffee is one of my few supposedly bad habits. I have a cup of strong coffee close at hand as I write this. And, like so many others, the first thing I do every morning is make a pot of coffee.

But wait, here's a headline, forwarded to me by the Cheeky Librarian, that makes me happy: Coffee and plenty of exercise could cut risk of skin cancer.

Of course, this research was done in rats, so take that into account before you throw away your sunscreen and rely on lots of java for sun protection. (I'm joking here, and I probably shouldn't. People take cancer-related news all too seriously. See Fake Drug, Fake Illness: A New Urban Legend Is Born.)

What the research, which was done with lab rats, found is that a combination of coffee and lots of exercise may lower the risk of skin cancer.

According to news reports, coffee and exercise are thought to work together to kill off precancerous cells whose DNA has been damaged by ultraviolet-B radiation from the sun. The rats were actually given caffeinated water, so you could take your caffeine straight if you don't like coffee.

The research also didn't say how much exercise a human being would need in order to get the same benefits, but the scientists do plan to do human studies soon.

The report didn't say anything about preventing recurrences of skin cancer, which is what I am really interested in, having had one bout with melanoma, but I'm going to assume, for now, that coffee and exercise are good for me.

Read:

Coffee and plenty of exercise could cut risk of skin cancer

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.

Melanoma Checkup

I had my first three-month checkup since having a melanoma removed this spring, and I'm more than happy to report that everything is OK.

Dr. Grabowski and his nurse checked every mole, freckle, and bump from the top of my head to my toes, but found nothing unusual. So I go back again in three months and call if I see anything suspicious before then.

Meanwhile, my break from chemo continues, and I see The Bone Guy next week, I believe, for another X-ray of my right arm, the one that had edema in the bone marrow. That is gradually getting better. I've stopped wearing the splint and don't need the heavy-duty pain meds any more, just naproxen once or twice a day.

The Right Sunscreen
I've written quite a bit about skin cancer recently, being newly sensitized to the disease now that I've had it. Dr. G gave me a sample of the sunscreen that he recommends to his patients.

It contains Helioplex, a true broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB protection both) ingredient. The brand I have is Neutrogena Ultra Sheer sunblock with SPF 70, but I believe you can buy other brands with Helioplex.

@ Jeanne Sather 2007.