3 years ago today….

 
Hello friends,

Out of all the days I've been alive, there aren't too many days that I can recount so vividly.  Of course there's my wedding day and the birth of my children.  and then there's the day I was first diagnosed with cancer in September 2006…I'll never forget that day or the day I started my first chemo treatment.  I'll never forget the day I held my mamaw's hand as she took her last breath or the day my best friend passed away.  I'll never forget being told I have cancer for the second time and then….for the third.

Three  years ago today Aaron and I woke up early after staying the night at a 4 star hotel in Nashville, TN.  It was the first time we have ever stayed somewhere that nice, and without our kids (thanks to Nana for keeping them).  
I remember snapping this picture of the sunset from our hotel room:

                                 

It felt like we were on the honeymoon we never got to go on.  The only bad thing was I couldn't eat any of the room service breakfast the following morning.  I had to be NPO.  The reality was, today wasn't a fun getaway, it was surgery day at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to hopefully rid my body of my third melanoma recurrence.  This was the first time I had ever had surgery at Vanderbilt, and I was a little nervous to say the least.  

After getting changed into my little hospital gown I was then wheeled to the radiology department for Lymphoscintigraphy.  This is where the nuclear medicine technologist gets me prepped and makes sure I'm centered on their machine.  Once prepped, the radiologist injects the tumor in my back with 6 syringes full of radioactive material.  The radioactive material feels like a nest full of venomous wasps that are on steroids stinging viscously over my back.  No joke…the stuff is poison and it hurts!!!  After being injected..we wait for the the radioactive tracer to drain to my lymph nodes and then we scan to see which lymph nodes "light up".  All of the black spots you see on each groin in the picture below are the nodes the surgical oncologist removed during my surgery.  (side note--they also inject you with blue dye.  Alivia thought it was pretty cool that for a few days after surgery I was peeing blue)

After I was finished in Radiology I was wheeled back to pre-op to get my IV started for surgery.  My hubby hugged me and kissed me and we prayed for a successful surgery.  I can't say I remember much of the rest of the day.  Other than my Post Op nurse saying I was the best patient she had all day.  Aaron said I was telling jokes and that's about all I could get out of him….I must've been putting on quite a show :-)

Thankfully two weeks later at my followup visit we got amazing news.  All of the melanoma was surgically removed and required no further treatment other than scans and full body exams. I am currently being followed every three months and have high hopes to move to 6 months visits after my next checkup this February.

I share this story to reflect and to celebrate 3 years with No Evidence of Disease!!! I've met so many amazing cancer warriors through this journey.  I've seen some hear those amazing No Evidence of Disease words and I've seen some hear the words, "there's nothing more we can do."  I've watched this very disease ravage my best friend's body but it can't touch our soul.  With that said, I'm so very thankful for life, I'm so thankful that although I may be a "cancer patient" by golly I'm one of the healthiest cancer patients there is.  And I'm bound and determined to do everything in my power to stay that way.

Thanks for all your love and support.  Choose joy and do your part to stay healthy.  Make the call to a dermatologist for a skin check and as always share the love and spread the lotion.  Much love to you all in 2014!!!

Love,

Alicia

November 2013 trip to Vandy

Livi and Rex, the Dino Joe gave to Livi before he passed from the beast Melanoma.

                

Hello Friends,

Last Monday, November 25 we traveled back to Vanderbilt's Melanoma specialist for my 3 month check up.  I was really hoping to be completely boring and sneak out of there without any stitches but my Dr. saw a new spot on my back that he thought he should biopsy.  Aaron actually noticed the red bump had been on my back for about a month and that it was starting to grow larger.  It wasn't causing me any pain or itching, like the other melanoma's I've had so I wasn't all that concerned.  The resident shot my back up with some lidocaine and cut out the lesion, then stitched me up.  It really was so easy that I told her I almost fell asleep. 

 Due to the Holiday my Dr said I should get my results back on Monday, Dec 2.  They set me up for my next 3 month visit for Feb, even though I begged to graduate to 6 month visits, Dr. E said it's too risky since the last time I graduated to 6 month visits I developed an invasive melanoma.  I agreed...

Well, Monday and Tuesday passed by and now it's Wed. I was starting to get anxious and my mind was thinking too much! Thankfully I just now received a call from Vandy with my results.  The bad news is the new spot that had only been on my back for 1 month was a new Dysplastic Melanocytic Nevus.  Dysplastic means disorganized cells, meaning the cells were starting to change within the melanocytes, meaning this was on its way to becoming another melanoma.   Thank God this was caught early!!!  The really good news is, it was completely excised and I don't require any further surgery!  Praise the LORD!!!  My Dr. says in some patients a Dysplastic Nevus isn't necessarily a big deal and in theory may never turn into a melanoma but in someone with Dysplastic Nevus Syndrome and those who have had multiple melanomas, like me (<5% of patients with melanoma), it is very imperative to excise these dysplastic nevi as soon as possible because my nevi have already proven they will behave in a malignant manner.

I'm very thankful this was caught early.  I am however, kinda sad that there is no end in sight with these biopsies and Dr visits every three months.  I'm hoping and praying my kids havent inherited my melanoma gene mutation.  On the plus side, at least my Mel specialist and oncologist is in a cool city that I absolutely love.  Friends, please go get your skin checked.  This disease is so misleading and behaves so much differently than most "skin" cancers.  If caught early, there's a 99 % cure rate, but once the melanoma is invasive at the stage 3 (lymph nodes) and stage 4 (brain, bones, internal organs) there's not good treatment options.  Think of Joe (33), think of Jennifer (34), think of Addison(just a baby,  maybe 3) they all died from melanoma.  Think of Me and please Go get your skin checked!  Share the love and spread the lotion!!!

Thanks for your unending support, all the love, and most of all Your prayers!

My First Half Marathon

Friends, I finally did it!!!  I finally ran my first half marathon! First and Foremost, I want to Thank our Heavenly Father who pulled me through this race.  I cried out to Him and held on to his promises throughout the race.  He Truly "Renewed My Strength" to get through those 13.1 miles and I give Him all Praise and Glory!

Scripture I wrote on my hand

 Those of you who  follow my blog know that I've been trying to run a half marathon since this past spring, but seems like I always end up injured and always end up pushing my plans for the half back.  I've been battling IT band syndrome off and on since last January.  Each time I would take about 4 weeks off from running and build back up to around 4 miles and be injured again.  I finally went to a Chiropractor, who is a runner, that said "Alicia, you'll keep battling this IT band until we find out what's causing it."  He came to the conclusion that my bunion on my Right foot is causing me to over supinate (roll my Right foot outward) causing an imbalanced gait, and putting increased pressure on my IT band.  He also said, I can't continue just running, I must start strengthening my Glutes to help with the imbalance as well.  In order to correct the misalignment of my first metatarsal, it would require surgery that has a 6-8 week non weight-bearing recovery period.  Not what a runner wants to hear.  At this point I'm leaning more towards Not having the surgery and trying a more conservative route.  I've been taping my toe in the correct position while I run, which in turn has helped take some pressure off my IT band. It's a temporary fix, but It's helping me get longer mileage in before I have terrible throbbing sharp pains in the lateral side of my RT knee.  I also wear a Cho-pat strap around my knee to give my IT band a little hug of support, and it does seem to help.

Bruised foot

Hallux Valgus, and rotated metatarsal

Now lets talk about how I finally decided to go for the half.  I became part of  a local online running group and met some amazing runners, who run around the same pace as me.  We started doing early morning runs together this summer and started increasing our mileage.  By the end of August I ran my longest run ever, 9 miles.  It was a hilly route and I ended up having terrible IT band throbbing pain on the side of my knee around mile 4 but I was determined to finish the 9 miles.--side note-- NEVER RUN THROUGH TRUE PAIN, unless of course you are in a race.  I continued to run until we reached 9 miles and by the end I was having throbbing hip and knee pain, and I'm not talking about muscle soreness, there was something wrong.  The next morning my Right hip was red, swollen and very tender to touch.  I couldn't even bend my right knee, without terrible throbbing pain.  I went to the chiropractor and he diagnosed me with Great trochanteric bursitis of my Right hip and ITB syndrome.  He told me I had to take two weeks off from running to let the inflammation go down, then I could only run until I had felt pain.  After two weeks I tried to run and could only make it 1.5 miles until I felt the throbbing, sharp ache in my knee.  The whole month of September I spent only running 1-2 miles, which made the half marathon on NOV 10th look nearly impossible.  After several visits to the Chiropractor for therapy and weight training I could finally run 4 miles the first week of October.  I had literally, only 5 weeks to train for this half Marathon and I was still battling an injury.  The second week of October I did 5 miles, third week I did 6 miles, fourth week 7 miles and the fifth week I did 8 miles.  I noticed at the 5th week I was starting to have ITband pain around the 7 mile mark but, I also stopped in my tracks due to running over a nail that went thru my shoe and into my foot.  Thankfully, my friend Hattie pulled the nail out and it didn't go into my foot too deep.

Two weeks before the Marshall half, my friend Sara encouraged me to go ahead and sign up.  I was having doubts because I hadn't even ran farther than 8 miles in the last two months.  With her encouragement, I finally signed up and I'm so thankful I did.  The week leading up to the half, I did one 3 mile run and the rest of the week I decided to rest my legs.  I took the advice of several long distance running friends the two days leading up to the race.  On friday I ate carbs all day long..  I had doughnuts, chinese noodles, pasta, I ate a whole bag of sour patch kids, and sipped on water all day long.  The day before the race I had biscuits and gravy and an egg and cheese biscuit, a whole bag of sour patch kids, spaghetti for lunch, fettucini for supper, and I sipped on water all day long.

After Packet Pickup the night before the Half Marathon

The morning of the Marshall Half, things didn't go as planned.  Thankfully, I woke up on time, at 5 a.m. Got my running gear on, drank my coffee, took my potty break, wrapped my foot, got my knee brace, and put everything in my little bag that i would need.  Around 6a.m. (we had 10 minutes to get ready to leave) I went to put my running watch on, that I had charging all night, and it wasn't fully charged.  I checked my iPod, that I also had charging all night, and it was completely dead!  I was panicking!  The only charge my iPod got was the time we left my house until the time we got to Marshall Stadium, which was about 25 minutes.  My kids were also not wanting to get up and we were rushing to get them dressed and in the car.  I teased my friend, that I would probably get there right as the gun went off.  I literally got to the stadium within 10 minutes of the gun going off, found my friend Molly without even having to search, and as I went to the Porta potty I found my friend Hattie.  Everything fell into place perfectly.  The music was loud and so was the crowd at the starting line, it was magical!  Most of the run was a blur, I just took in all the sights and sounds and felt the rhythm of the run.  I dedicated each mile of the race to someone special to me and it truly helped me get thru each mile.  I've heard runners say, "never trust the first mile, It's a liar."  Well based on my experience, I would say, "never trust the first 6 miles, It's a liar."  My first 6 miles were terrible!  I was in pain the entire time.  I could see the pacer runners holding their sign that said "goal 2 hrs" or goal "2:10" pass right by me.  At that point I was wondering if I was going to cramp up and even be able to finish, I mean the farthest practice run before the race was 8 miles. The throbbing knee pain hit me at mile 6 but something amazing happened when I got to the 10K point.  They had a timer and a loud crowd of people cheering us on.  I was praying and quoting scripture the entire time.  A nice stranger ran up beside me and said "we are almost half way there, we got this."  Adrenaline kicked in at that point and I could immediately see my pace increase and My pain went away. I knew I was going to finish in under 2:10 when I approached the 2:10 pacer and passed her.   I was definitely feeling the "runners high" and I was on top of the world.  My music died at mile 10, so I took my ear buds out and high fived all the soldiers and little kids standing on the side of the road.  I met another stranger, and we finished the last 3.1 miles together.  This was her first half too, and I'm so thankful for her!  Her encouragement and fellowship helped me more than she will ever know.  What an amazing feeling to finally run into the stadium at Marshall Football field, to feel the turf beneath my feet and to hear my name called over the loud speaker and to cross that finish line!  My amazing friend Molly, was at the finish line waiting with a banana and bottle of water.  Then I saw my husband and kids.  I'm not going to lie, I could barely walk after I crossed the finish line and Immediately felt the crunching sound and throbbing of my knee.  I gave it all I had and had nothing left to give at the end of that race.  Thank you God for your promises and for strengthening me.  Thank you God for the amazing opportunity and ability to run.  What an honor and a privilege it is to finally cross that finish line.  Thanks to all my friends and family who encouraged me and prayed for me during all my crazy adventures!  I'm not sure what my next goal is, but I know God will strengthen me and you all will be cheering me on.  It was so nice to have something else to shove in cancer's face!!!

Finish time: 2hrs and 8 min, pace: 9min, 45 seconds.

I love the hardware!!!

                 

Hattie and I resting our blistered feet after the 13.1 miles

The reason I run!!!  I love my family

                       

                  

Radiology Report

Hello friends,  My nurse from Vandy just messaged me my official radiology report.  They didn't mention anything about a new lung nodule and all my lung nodules appear stable!!!! In the message she said no new metastatic disease.  Stable scan!!! Praise God!!!!  Thanks for all your prayers :-) check it out :-)

Vandy 7/8/13

Hello friends, I just wanted to give a quick update while traveling on my way home from Nashville. I'm typing this on my phone so I appologize in advance for any typos. 

 We had a great quick trip and guess what??  No biopsies!!!  My first appointment was with dermatology where I was first examined by one of the residents.  She found a spot she thought was suspicious but when Dr E looked thru the dermascope he said it was just a Nevus but not atypical.  Thank God I got out of there without stitches!!!!

Next on my agenda was to check in for my CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis with IV contrast.  The tech had a really hard time getting my IV but after the third try finally got it:-) the scan was pretty quick and easy even though I had the typical tight feeling in my chest and warm tingly sensation.  After my scan I was starving so we went to Ted's Montana grill for lunch.  

After lunch we went back to the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center where I checked in to see my oncologist.  My official CT report wasn't back yet but he pulled up the scan on PACS and reviewed it himself.  He saw one small new lung nodule but nothing he was overly concerned about.  He said we will wait and see what the radiologist thought of it but he wasn't concerned.  I'm going to follow up with him in 6 months and Dermatology wants to see me again in 3 months.  I tried to get Dr E to let me go to 6 months as well but he said I scare him since I've had 3 melanoma primary tumors and too many dysplastic to count on my fingers and toes.  

...And Dr E said my big purple toe needs to be seen by an orthopedic podiatrist.  He is also a runner and thinks I may need orthotics.  He also recommended getting my GP to check my SED rate and Uric acid to make sure it's not Gout or arthritis.  

Overall I'd say this was a fantastic checkup!!!!  Praise God from whom all blessing flow.  Now I'm just hoping this radiologist agrees that this lung nodule is nothing of concern:-). God bless each of you for your love and your prayers!!!!!

Here is a pic of the cute little dog "swoosh" the Vandy volunteer was walking around the children's center.  This little cutie was so sweet and great for my kiddos to play with.

My supporters and light of my life!

Living, Loving, Running and Oh yea...Cancer

Hello friends,

Sorry I'm just now updating you with my April Biopsy results!  After a long trip to Vandy I just wanted to forget that I'm a cancer patient and get back into work, family, laundry, cleaning toilets, running 6 miles....ANYTHING besides being a cancer patient. Thankfully it was only dysplastic (pre-cancerous) and my Dr. excised clear margins during the biopsy, so I didn't require any additional surgery.  Praise be to our amazing God!!! 

Here lately I've just been enjoying life and doing everything in my power to be as healthy as possible.  Getting a cancer diagnosis three times has a way of making you appreciate even the smallest things just a little more.  I've found the only person who keeps us from accomplishing our goals isn't the cancer or our disease it's us.  There was a time I couldn't run because I was too sick but God has blessed me with good health now.  The mind is such a powerful thing.  If you believe you can you will!  Instead of coming up with all kinds of reasons why I can't run I just started running and now I can run 6 miles without stopping.  When I first started running last Summer I couldn't even run a half mile without feeling like I was dying.  My motivation is to run for all those who are sick and unable to run.  I think of my friend Joe who is now running among the angels in heaven.  I think of those who are on chemo too sick to even walk.  I think of all the people who would love to run but just can't.  Every time I run I think of you all and it motivates me to keep going.  I run to show Melanoma Who's BOSS!

I still haven't checked the half marathon off my bucket list just yet but I'm working toward it.  I was planning on running a half marathon in April but my friend and I both ended up injured.  She fractured her tibia and I was dealing with an IT band injury.  We took some time off to heal but I've slowly started increasing my mileage again throughout the month of June. Hopefully we'll be able to Kill a Half this fall.  I'm signed up to run my first ever 10K this coming Saturday July 6, 2013.  I've been having some redness and swelling of my Big toe MTP joint with throbbing pain (i'm really hoping it's not arthritis--a long term side affect of interferon) so please pray I'm able to push through the pain during this race.  

You know reality has a way of just slapping you right in the face sometimes.  I'm getting to that point again where I finally feel healthy and then BOOM!   I'm doing all those things that healthy people do.  I'm juicing.  I'm running.  I'm praying.  I have a family.  I have friends that love me.  I just overall feel great!!!  But then I get the call from my oncology nurse at Vandy wanting to set up my CT chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis scan for re-staging and all of a sudden I feel like a cancer patient again.  I feel that crippling fear of what if they find something.  I'm suddenly at war with myself on the inside-- But I feel fine--why even go to the Dr--there's nothing wrong--but what if there is--my friend Joe felt fine and on his routine scan his melanoma spread to his lung--Dear God this is a reality--this is my life--give me strength Lord because I am so very weak--   I go next Monday July 8 to Vandy to see my Dermatologist at 10am, CT scans at 11:20am, and Oncology appointment at 2pm.  Please keep me in your prayers that I have the most boring scans ever seen at Vandy! Until then this is the song I sing and it just soothes my soul:

By:  Jesus Culture

One Thing Remains lyrics


Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant in the trial and the change
this one thing remains

You're love never fails 
Never gives up, Never runs out on Me

And on and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I'll never ever have to be afraid
This one thing remains
This one thing remains

In death, in life
I'm confident and covered by the power of 
Your great love

My debt is paid 
There's nothing that can separate my 
heart from your
great love.




  

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Hello Friends,

Follow my blog with www.bloglovin.com.  After July 1, 2013 (tomorrow) google reader will no longer exist! Those of you who use blogspot might want to sign up with bloglovin as well.  I just signed up today thanks to my friend Chelsea for letting me know this was happening!  Chelsea says bloglovin makes it much easier to keep up with blogs you follow because they send you an email with new blog updates. Thanks for all your love, prayers and support for me along this fight against melanoma!!!  I've been super busy living and loving life but I hope to update you all soon!


Much love,

Alicia