If you've reached my page, you are probably well aware that May is Melanoma Awareness Month! What a perfect time to share this information from the Phoenix Skin Medical Surgical Group, right?! Knowing how to properly examine your skin is so important. At most people are getting their skin checked every three months, with the majority of us seeing a dermatologist once a year. That's not enough. Our skin changes, so we must keep a watchful eye! Out of three melanomas, only one was found by a dermatologist. The other two I found myself. Not sure how to do a proper skin check? Let's start here ..read more

Each year, on the eve of my cancerversary, I grab the book my best friend made for me that consists of letters from my fellow melanoma friends, a glass of wine, and I snuggle in for a good cry. Not this year. This year, year seven, was different.... This year, just a month prior to the seventh anniversary, my oncologist broke up with me. I went in for my routine six month scans in December. I felt pretty good, no concerns at all, but I wasn't expecting the news my doctor gave me. He told me my scans were clear, that it had been almost seven years since my initial diagnosis, years from t ..read more

There once was a time – not that long ago – I thought I knew it all. I was so angry, so bitter, so scared, that I critiqued what people said to me. Instead of wrapping myself in the love sent with their comments, I thought of what they should have said. Like many others, I blogged about what you should say to cancer patients, I wrote about what not to say to cancer patients. I talked about the clichés used and how one should avoid them. I was such an angry know-it-all. My blog friend, Tim, wrote a comment in 2011 that really struck home with me today as I reread it: “Unfortunately, almost AN ..read more

When I'm not raising boys, building a business, or browsing social media like it is my job, I am a residency coordinator at a teaching hospital. I enjoy my job. It introduces me to all sorts of people, from all sorts of places. Seeing these medical students and residents learn, hearing their passion and enthusiasm, it gives me such hope for our future. These people are smart, y'all. Recently I was making small talk with my new chief resident. Nothing out of the ordinary, small talk. I asked him about his interests, where he hopes to end up--surgical oncology--and his future plans. We're walki ..read more

Do you use sunscreen every day? I mean, every single day you step foot outside? Not just beach day, not just days at the ball field, not just for your run. I mean, every single day your skin is exposed to the environment. I know. I'm cringing because I know the truth. I didn't either. But that all changed. Over the years I have often admitted how little I like sunscreen. I hate the way it feels under my make-up. I hate the way it smells. I hate the way it seems to get on EVERYTHING. I hate feeling sticky! Then my best friend gave me her Rodan + Fields sunscreen. Game changer ..read more

January 24, 2016: We escaped from our snow covered neighborhood to go to Target because I absolutely had to pick up the chair for the baby's nursery. We got the chair home. I had to vacuum and mop the nursery. Bryan set up the chair and I rocked in my chair, imagining the baby I would hold in my arms. And then the pain started. I must've overdone it. I think I stood up at a weird angle while vacuuming. I tried to sleep. I felt sick. I texted my boss and told him I wouldn't be into work. Bryan went into work, believing me when I said I must've pulled a muscle. I tried to sleep. I couldn't f ..read more

I type. I hit delete. I type. I use the backspace button. I walk away from this page for a few more months. The last time I wrote I shared the exciting news of my pregnancy. Hopefully if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you've been introduced to my boy. I want to share my son with you all. I plan to write about the joys of motherhood. But I can't yet. I can't gloss over something that happened while experiencing the most incredible miracle of my life. In the midst of our happiness, my sweet friends experienced the tragic loss of their girl. Julie passed away on April 3 ..read more

January 10, 2011 I didn't cry when the dermatologist told me the mole was melanoma. I left that appointment, made the calls to my family, and reassured everyone that we would proceed with the surgery, and everything would be fine. I vaguely remember saying something about how they surgeon would remove a little bit more and that would be that. No one corrected me. I didn't cry as the oncologist told me that melanoma had spread to lymph nodes on both sides of my body, in 3 out of the 4 areas, and to prepare myself that the PET scan would show that it had already spread to my organs. I a ..read more

"It was her time to go." Source Months ago with much help from the media, society decided to praise, bash, admire, and judge the young terminal brain cancer patient, Brittany Maynard, when she publicly shared her plan to end her life last fall. Many, myself included, praised Brittany for her courage in sharing such a controversial message to the world filled with varying (intense) opinions. Many, myself included, expressed admiration that Brittany could be so brave to end her own life, before cancer ended it for her. There was no getting better for Brittany. On October 9, 2014, Brittany sa ..read more

  I couldn't sleep last night. I tossed. I turned. My husband probably thought a few times about pushing me out of the bed. I tossed and I turned some more. What would have me up at 2:30 A.M. in such a fit? The title "Cancer Survivor." Some of you know that wearing the hat "Cancer Survivor" makes me cringe and quickly change the subject. To many people who have not battled melanoma, that probably seems ridiculous. After all, I've sat half naked on a cold exam room when the dermatologist mumbled those two words, "it's melanoma." I've seen the sympathy in the nuclear medicine tech's face ..read more