Scattered Thoughts . . .

I've had an ongoing issue with skin cancer on my face for the past 12 years or so.  It really comes as no surprise since I grew up on an island and spent most of my time working outdoors and either at the beach or boating during my free time.  Having fair Irish skin hasn't helped.  Consequently, quickly developing a blistering sunburn on my forehead and nose was a common occurrence no matter what sort of precautions I took.  Well...  I could have avoided being outdoors but that wasn't much of an option.  I do avoid being outside as much as possible today but when I was young and very active that was not an option. During that first year of skin cancer 12 years ago, I had surgery to remove a sizable cancerous tumor in my cheek requiring twenty-seven stitches to close the area.  Since that time, I've had numerous biopsies and little spot treatments here and there.  In the past few years, my doctor has given up on trying to keep up with spot treatments because the develo

Yesterday, we spent the day at the hospital running from appointment to appointment and squeezing in a couple of unscheduled stops too.  We had thought it would be a straightforward day with no significant news (which means we expected no stress and no problems) . Not only did we receive some new news but we found that there is such a thing as different levels of bad news. We started at Genetics. Here we discussed new genetic tests that help determine whether there are any known genetic components to Sheila's cancer. If we find that there are any known genetic components, then Sheila's children and grandchildren will be on a completely different and more aggressive preventive medicine schedule than that recommended for the general public.  The purpose of this genetic testing is to rate the risk of cancer being carried genetically through statistics and common cancer genes in order to avoid potential cancer getting out of hand in any children or grandchildren before the r

The following morning after we sat down with the doctor to discuss the results of Sheila's mammogram and ultrasound imaging, we were headed back to the hospital for a biopsy. Sheila has been down this road before. Her first biopsy was 11 years ago, then surgery, radiation, chemo and the years of follow-up testing, imaging and exams. But, this morning, we were back at square one again. I have to say that it was not a pleasant feeling to be back at square one again. We both were so anxious that we thought we couldn't eat. We sat down to eat but we both commented that we had no desire for food whatsoever. The funny thing is... once we started eating, we pretty much finished our meals. I think the food absorbed some of the stomach acid being pumped into our empty stomachs due to our nerves. We felt a bit better after eating. On the drive to the hospital this morning our conversation changed from a pep talk type of thing giving positive reinforcement to someone who has already

I've said this countless times before, with my voice and on this blog, but I'll remind everyone anyway... Just because a cancer patient may appear to be cancer-free at any given moment, this in no way means the patient "beat cancer" or, an even sillier notion, "kicked cancer's ass".   The fact is... and, yes, this is a fact and not just my opinion... that cancer patients have a significantly higher incidence of a recurrence of cancer compared to the incidence of a person who has never had cancer getting cancer for the first time. Until there is a true cure for cancer, the statistics show that the cancer patient is only buying time in getting beyond the first occurrence of cancer.  Unfortunately, the time that Sheila bought (or perhaps "earned") by getting beyond her first occurrence of cancer is suddenly up.  This all started last week, Sheila and I traveled up to Burlington last week for a mammogram. This is a standard, typical, repet