Peek at the Pecks

One year ago today...

I was waiting to go into surgery, my hubby and my mom and my sister was there.

Ya see I had been diagnosed with cancer three weeks earlier.

I went to visit my dermatologist about a mole I had on my ankle. It wasn't looking right, so I had him look at. He then told me, ya it looks weird lets remove it and then I will do a biopsy and they can tell if it is anything to be worried about.

I waited and waited and waited.

It only took a week to get the results, but when you have no idea what to expect it seemed like a year.

I got the call the night my husband was coming home after being gone for six weeks at basic training in the Army. He didn't even know about all of this. (he wasn't allowed to have any phone call or Internet access, only letters.) My doctor called and said that it was positive for melanoma. And that it was deeper then they expected and that I needed to schedule surgery as soon as possible so they can remove it and some lymph nodes to test if it had spread.

I was shocked, I didn't think this happened to people my age. I mean I was 26 and had just been told I have stage 2 melanoma!

DH called me from the airport to tell me when I could come and get him and that is when I told him. At first he didn't believe me, he laughed and said ya right, but after a while he got that I wasn't kidding and he was so great and supportive about it all.

I went into surgery and they got it all!

My doctor is known for his shark bites so now I have a wicked scar on my ankle and behind my knee and in up on my thigh. It didn't end up spreading, I was lucky. So now I am called a cancer survivor, but I have seen worse cases and seen people suffer greatly and fight it, those are the people I call survivors.

Now I have to go in every four months for five years, so they can check me and make sure I don't have any more surprises.

I have an AMAZING support system, I was able to recuperate and rest and learn to walk again thanks to all the people that watched my kids, made sure I ate, took me to the ER when I thought my ankle was infected, etc. Thank you so much to all of you!

So today, I am so thankful for all my many blessings! And that I am healthy and able to be here for my family. Love you guys!