Tuesday, March 8, 2011

breathing again

Kevin's biopsies came back today.

If you are not familiar with his story, you can click on the link above in red which is under the picture.

All 3 biopsies were clear, but one had abnormalities that had he not removed the growth, it would have turned into cancer.

I can't say it enough...PLEASE get your skin checked. Melanoma is not an easy cancer. It is only easy to treat if it is caught very early. Once it grows, it grows deep and spreads to the lymph nodes. Once it is in the lymph nodes, it travels to vital organs.

And while you are waiting to get your skin checked, lather up with sunscreen. Find one with zinc. It is not like the old school zinc that we wore as kids in fluorescent colors. Rain or shine, put it on daily.

It only takes 1 bad sunburn to develop Melanoma, so don't have one of those, "I can't believe how red I got" moments. I see too many of those posts on Facebook during the summer and it frustrates me. Would you intentionally jump in front of a moving train to test how close to death you can get?

Am I being a bit dramatic? Yes. But, it is that important. I don't want anyone to go through what Kevin has gone through.

Melanoma is preventable. You don't want to mess around with it. Trust me. It's a beast.

For more information, check out these quick, important facts here.

So for now we can breathe again. Kevin will do his CT and MRI scans and see his oncologist at UCI Cancer Center next month.

Thanks for all your love, prayers, and support as we travel on the journey.

Much love,
Katie

P.S. If you would like to post this blog post or the melanoma fact link on your Facebook or blog, please do so. Spread the word and keep your loved ones sun safe.

4 comments:

Brooke said...

What great news. Phew!!!
PS - I now wear sunscreen EVERY day. It is scary indeed.

missmehoneybee said...

Good to hear. My Mom had Melanoma last year and four surgeries later she is fine. I never really understood or thought about skin cancer until we experianced how scary it can be first hand. Its a big deal. We no longer go out in the sun without protection. Thanks for sharing. Always a good reminder,especially with summer coming.

Janna said...

Wow! Thanks for the reminder, from a gal who is in the high risk group with my fair skin, red hair and freckles. Are you going to blog sugar??

Michelle said...

Thanks for the reminder Katie! So happy to hear your good news....you deserve to breath easy for awhile :)