Hello, everybody! It's been quite a while since my last posting and I apologize for that. A lot of things have been going on in my life lately and now I think I'll let you know what's been happening.Back in March of this year, I noticed a mole on the front of my right leg that was never there before. I showed it to Dion (my husband) and he wanted me to have it checked out right away, but I put it off. (That's why my father gave me the nickname of "Ben", for "Ben-puttin-it-off". I have a fear of doctors that goes way back, and I'm not exactly why it started, but I think it had to do with all the horror stories of what happened to my sister Carol Lee when she had her back surgeries. She was 16 and I was only 12 and well aware of what was happening to her. I felt helpless and ineffectual--I couldn't help her and I was terribly frightened for her, which also made me vow that I would never allow myself to be put in the position she had been in...ever.
Then, about two months ago, I happened to glance at my leg (I had been deliberately ignoring it because I was scared of what I might find) and now there were nine or ten moles instead of just one! It looked like a solar system had formed in the place where the moles were. It scared me, so I showed Dion again, and he wanted me to go to the doctor's right away, but I convinced him to let me wait until I went for my gynecological exam that was already scheduled for a little over two weeks away. My OB-GYN had sent me to have a biopsy on a mole once before, so I trusted him to know what he was looking at.
When my OB-GYN looked at my moles, he was alarmed. He told me that they looked very suspicious and he made me promise that I would get them looked at immediately and get in A.S.A.P.! It was too late to make an appointment when I got home that afternoon, so I called the next day. The dermatologist that I had been going to for years had retired, so I called a new one, and there was no opening until November.
When the secretary heard my hesitation, she said, "Will that be alright?" I said, "I guess it will have to be, but if you have a cancellation, could you please call me? My gynecologist looked at some moles on my leg and said they looked suspicious and wanted them looked at right away." Then she said, "Oh, in that case, we had a cancellation today. Can you come in today?" I believe that was the Lord's intervention! We jumped on it and we in the doctor's office two and a half hours later.
When they did my body check, they said they were amazed at how many moles I had all over my body. We discussed my history, and I told them it started with my having my first mole removed from my bellybutton area within a few days of being born.
After that, I have had a total of about 20 to 25 moles removed, either by surgery, having it burned off, or two of them almost fell off when it was time for them to be removed because I had ripped at them with my fingernails by mistake so many times (because they had been in my way). Only one of them had turned out to be melanoma, and it was benign. That was when I was a teenager--and my father took me to Geneva General Hospital for the surgery. I think I was somewhere between 17 and 19, but I'm not quite sure.
And now to the present. When I went to the Dermatologist's office, they were quite sure that I had a fast-growing melanoma, so they took two biopsies: a shave biopsy, and a plug biopsy, which was pretty deep because the melanoma is pretty extensive.
I got my results back and they are positive. I have malignant melanoma and I am scheduled for a consultation with the surgeon who will be performing my sentinel node biopsy. That biopsy is for determining how far the cancer has spread, and she will also schedule how much chemo I need and she'll determine if I need radiation or not, too.
Also, my husband, Dion, has hurt his back at work again and in a lot of pain. I can't bear to see him in this much agony, but naturally, he has gone back to work, even though he can hardly stand up, because he knows we'll be needing the money very soon and we don't know what we're going to do. The Lord is going to have to provide for us this time, that's for sure.
Please pray for us if you think about it, and in your spare time. It doesn't have to be a long prayer--just a few words would do. We could use all the prayers we can get. Thank you for being our friends and for caring.
Until next time...stay safe, stay well and as always, may the Lord bless you all.
Cynde
Please visit my other blogs:
Cynde's Got The Write Stuff ~and~ Usurper Exposed. Thank you!
