Here's to Your Health

Someone was asking me for some health and fitness advice the other day, and suggested that I start a blog related to that. I didn't want to start a whole new blog, but I was thinking that since I fortunately don't have much melanoma related news to share, why not start posting more here about health and fitness related things? Health is connected to cancer prevention anyway.

First off, I am clearly not a doctor or any medical expert, blah blah blah. So don't listen to what I have to say and ignore your doctor's advice or anything silly like that. 

To start off, here are some of my basics for being healthy, whether you want to lose fat, gain muscle, or just maintain your weight and/or live a healthier lifestyle; I'll expand on these basics in later posts:

1. Don't "Go on a Diet". Make lifestyle changes. A "diet" is what you eat, whether it's "good" or "bad".  Make changes you can stick with for life, and include foods that you love, even if they are not the healthiest, and work on finding substitutes, eating smaller portions, or cutting out the really terrible stuff completely. 

2.  Quality and Quantity BOTH matter. You have probably heard of, or been on, "diets" that restrict fat, carbs, or times that you are supposed to eat. Basically, it's calories in/calories out. If you consume more calories than you burn off, you will gain weight. If you consume less, you'll lose weight. However, the quality does matter as well. Your food should be doing something good for you, and candy, cookies and chips don't. A decent rule is that if you can't understand the ingredients on the package, don't eat the food. This website has some really good, detailed rules about eating Real Food.

3. MOVE and Pick Up Heavy Things. Whatever your goals are, we all need to move more. If your current exercise routine consists of getting up from the couch to get more chips, then start off with walking or taking a family bike ride. If you already have a basic fitness level, step it up. When you are comfortable with whatever you're doing, make it uncomfortable again. Lift weights. If you don't know how, and don't have a gym membership or access to a personal trainer, Google is your friend. 

4. Set realistic goals, and find what motivates YOU. Whether you want to lose, gain, or maintain your weight, set goals for yourself. Start small, and set daily, weekly, monthly goals to start out. It doesn't have to be based on that number on the scale, it can be just working out a set number of days/minutes each week, staying within your calorie range, or anything else that you set out to do. Reward yourself with something for each goal you reach - I warn against rewarding yourself with food, you're not a dog! 

5. Realize that you will fail at some point. We aren't perfect, there are going to be weeks that you don't have time to get to the gym or grocery shop, or you just give in to temptation. When that happens, don't beat yourself up, just pick up and move forward - right then, not the next Monday (the national day for starting anything).

<3
Melissa

Cruisin'

Well guys, I am happy to report that I managed to go on a tropical weekend getaway, without getting sunburned or tan! It still feels weird to be happy about not getting a tan, but I was really proud of that. I wore my hats and sunscreen and tried to sit in the shade when I could, and it worked.  I had a great time with my friends, from the time we got into the truck to leave town Friday morning, til the time we got back home on Monday afternoon, it was a blast. Full of laughs, no drama, just a ton of fun. And everyone on that ship knew who we were, partially thanks to the awesome hats we wore:

Our shirts said "Catalina Wine Mixer" because we were 

talking about the movie Stepbrothers and thought

it would be hilarious.....and it was :)

We went to Nassau, Bahamas on Saturday, and Cococay on Sunday, which is a private island owned by the cruise line. In Nassau we just walked down to Senor Frogs for the afternoon, and in Cococay a couple of the girls stayed on the boat while the rest of us hung out on the white sandy beaches:

I also wanna let y'all (all 5 of you who read this.....) know about the lip sunscreen I've discovered. I've always been crazy about making sure I had sunscreen on my lips, because I've always gotten fever blisters if my face/lips get much sun at all. A couple of years ago, my mom got me some Supergoop products. I really don't care for their face sunscreen, I love my Neutrogena, but I LOVE their SPF30 lip balm. Every SPF chapstick I've ever tried has left a weird taste in my mouth (which doesn't go well with tropical drinks!), but Supergoop doesn't. I was a little leery at first because it's kind of shiny and I feel like that will attract sun, but I've been using it all summer and no burned lips or fever blisters! Check it out, and remember, you need sunscreen even in winter!

 And last, but definitely not least, when I got home, I got to meet the newest member of my "family" (not family by blood or marriage, but by choice)! I would like to introduce you guys to Vivian Ann:

Aunt Mel had just come from Spin class :)

This precious little girl was born as I was shipping out to sea, but luckily I got to see some pics and video before I had to turn off my phone. It's impossible not to instantly fall in love with her, and mommy and baby are both very happy and healthy!

Well that's all my news for now, I'm currently at Mayo for blood work but don't expect to hear anything but how great my blood is, as always :)

Update on the Von St. James Family

Well this is a little embarrassing, but I just remembered that Cameron Von St. James from this post sent me a link to a video that his wife Heather did.....over 3 months ago. Sorry Cameron and Heather for taking so long, but here's the link to the video!!

Heather's Video

(I can't embed videos, for whatever reason. Sorry!)

I follow Heather on Facebook and love her positive attitude (and cool hair and tattoos!). Check out her video :)

Btw......I leave for my cruise tomorrow, and my best friend is having her baby tomorrow too! Exciting weekend ahead!

Let's Catch Up

I really want to start blogging more, because I know if I do, the posts will be shorter, and less boring to read, and because I want to start sharing more about the melanoma and cancer community. So we will see!

I follow a lot of melanoma related blogs, and sometimes bloggers share information that inspires me to write my own posts. Recently, Chelsea of Adventures With My Enemy Melanoma (who was one of my biggest inspirations to start my own blog) mentioned Is My Cancer Different, a movement dedicated to educating people about how different cancer can be. Did you know that "cancer" is really just a catch-all, generic term? Cancer is defined as uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in your body. Because there are many different types of cancer, and even the same cancer can behave differently in different people, everyone's cancer IS different. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, go check the website out!

I have always (I like how I used the word always, even though it's been 2 years since my initial diagnosis) felt like "my cancer is different". It started in my skin, not inside my body, the treatment is somewhat different, and I have never felt like I had cancer. People sometimes use the word "sick", and I hate that because I didn't and don't feel sick. I definitely feel out of the ordinary in the waiting room in oncology, and when I had radiation. My doctors and nurses love me because I'm healthy and always happy, when a lot of their patients don't have that good fortune. I haven't gotten nauseous or lost my hair (and certainly not my appetite) or had one side effect from immunotherapy - which is another thing, because my cancer is different, traditional chemotherapy doesn't work as well in most cases. This is both a good and a bad thing, good because I don't have to endure difficult chemo, which kills both good and bad cells, usually makes people sick, etc; bad because it means melanoma is less understood than other types of cancer. 

Some people who have had melanoma caught it earlier, before it spread to their lymph nodes or anywhere else, and it only required surgery to remove the skin around the primary site. Some of these people are very active in melanoma awareness, and I've read stories where they've been hassled a little because basically, their cancer wasn't good enough. Seriously, people out there who are doing what they can to help prevent this terrible cancer from happening to others, have actually been ridiculed because they didn't suffer quite enough? But, read anything on the internet and you will find that there are a lot of hateful people out there with clearly not enough to do! Even within a cancer centered community. 

Whether you were fortunate enough to catch any kind of cancer in the early stages, or at the later stages, whether you had traditional treatment, none at all, are in a clinical trial, or went holistic, your cancer IS different, because you are different. Whether you suffered a little bit or a lot, your cancer matters and you matter. 

In other news.....look what I did last weekend:

I've been wanting to do this for about a year now, and on a whim while at the tattoo/piercing studio with some friends to get our ears pierced, I decided to just go for it. Hurt like nobody's business but was finished very quickly and I love it! I already want a cross on the other foot :)

Next weekend I set sail on a cruise to the Bahamas with a group of girls, so if you hear about a bunch of shenanigans on the high seas, we probably had something to do with it....let's see if I can learn my lessons and avoid sunburns while I'm out there!

Can't Wait!!

Cancerversary Take 2

I wrote about my "Cancerversary" earlier this week, but I neglected to write about one very important thing - how thankful I am for so many people that are in my life! When you go through something difficult, you realize even more how much your loved ones mean to you. I already knew I had awesome family and friends, but the love that was shown to me over the last year has been unbelievable. 

So, to the friends who visited, who offered to drive me to appointments or sit with me during immunotherapy, who brought me food and presents (and braided my hair since I had one arm that was incapacitated!), thank you!! There were people I didn't even know that well that offered their encouragement and favors. Friends of my mom's came to hang out with me after surgery and at doctor appointments, and with her at my surgery. Speaking of that, a ridiculous amount of people came to the surgical center for my surgery. Thinking about the overwhelming support I was given gets me a little emotional. People at work were also really great during that time. I have worked at the same construction company since I was a senior in high school (besides a year and a half long stint as a flight attendant!) and I've worked with a lot of the same guys during that time. Almost every single one of them called, texted, or Facebooked me to see how I was doing while I was out of work. My boss was especially great as well, and he's been really patient with me with all the time I have to take off of work for appointments, scans, immunotherapy, etc. There are only 2 of us in the office so 1 person being gone really makes a difference but my boss and office co-worker never complain about it. 

And of course I want to thank my parents and family. At 35 years old, it's really comforting to know that your parents would still do anything in the world for you. Even though I tell them I'm fine, they still won't let me go to get my scan results without one of them there. After my surgery, when I was home for a week and couldn't drive, they came over every day to check on me and bring me food. I can't even begin to list things they've done to support me, so I'm just going to say THANK YOU to the best mom and dad I could ever ask for. And another big thank you to my brother, sister in law, step-mom and stepsisters who visited, brought me the yummiest food, and offered prayers and words of encouragement and love.   

:)

Cancerversary

I'm in the middle of celebrating my "cancerversary" - the 1 year anniversary of finding out that melanoma had returned and having surgery to remove it, and staying cancer free. I found out on July 26th last year (which happens to be one of my best friends' birthday!) that the cancer had moved on to my lymph nodes, and I had them removed on August 8th. Mid July of this year, I had my routine scans, which came back all clear, so at that point I decided I would go ahead and call it my cancerversary :)

At the same time as my scans, I had my 6th infusion of ipilimumab, and I'm happy to report that I have had no side effects! If I were in a blind trial with a placebo, I would definitely think I was getting the placebo! I have 2 more infusions to go, and I'll be done with that, hopefully never to visit the chemo unit again. I'm not sure how often I'll go for scans at that time, because right now I'm required to have them every 12 weeks at treatment time. I'll do whatever my doctor recommends, but I'm hoping to go a little less frequently by the time I'm finished with the trial; that will be almost a year and a half after my surgery (January 2014 will be my last ipi infusion, if all goes as planned). 

Speaking of my doctor, let me brag on Mayo Clinic a little bit. I read a lot of blogs where melanoma patients go to really great cancer centers of excellence - FYI, if you have melanoma, you definitely want to see a melanoma specialist, that's basically melanoma 101. Something I've noticed about a lot of others' experiences is that they have to wait for hours after their scheduled appointment. I know it's worth it to them to see great doctors at great hospitals, but it's something I'm really grateful to not worry about at Mayo! For certain appointments like blood work and scans, I may have to wait a little while. But when it comes to my oncology appointment, I never have to wait long. This is especially great when I'm waiting for scan results, but it's nice any time. It's the same with my appointments for immunotherapy (the ipilimumab), and the dermatologist. On days where I have an appointment and plan to go to work afterwards, it's good to be able to pretty accurately say when I'll be finished and heading into work. They have really made my scheduling so much easier and I'm really appreciative of that. I highly recommend them. 

So, all my news is pretty good. Unfortunately, there are plenty of others in "mela-land" who don't have such great news. The most heartbreaking is Addison of Addison's Army Against Melanoma, who is only 2 years old and was diagnosed with melanoma at 3 months old - it was passed through the placenta from her mother, who passed away when little Addison was about a year old. Addison has been doing so well, but as of yesterday, her Facebook page was updated to say that she has a brain bleed and there is nothing more that can be done for her. I've never met Addison or her family, never spoken to them, but my heart is so heavy for all of them. I suppose the blessing is that for Addison, she does not comprehend what is happening, but I cannot imagine how gut-wrenching this is for her family, who have already endured the loss of her young mother (Addison's mother, Briana, was only 33 when she passed away). Certain stories touch my heart more than others, and this is one of them. Please visit their website or their Facebook page to learn more about this family.

Addison is one person, although one extra special case, but there are others who are finding out they have new tumors, that their treatment isn't working, that their insurance won't cover the drugs they need, and the list goes on and on and on. Some of these people have melanoma in their genes (like me), some of these people have melanoma caused by too much sun exposure (probably also me), and some of them don't have any obvious reason to have gotten melanoma. We're closing in on the end of summer (although in Florida, our summer goes well into the fall), but there's still time to practice sun safety. I used to hate to hear this sentence, and I still do, but the truth is, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "SAFE" TAN. (unless it comes from a bottle, and even then there's issues with chemicals, breathing in sprays, etc, but it's definitely better than the sun!). I don't think we should hide from the sun, everyone who knows me knows I love a Sunday Funday out by the pool, but you can wear hats, UV protective clothing (which I think is great for kids to cut down on the amount of sunscreen application they have to endure), and of course, sunscreen. Lots of high SPF sunscreen, applied every 2 hours or so. If your skin gets tanned, it is damaged. If it gets burned, it's REALLY damaged. Please, protect the skin you're in, and protect your kids' skin too. A few sunburns doubles your chances of getting melanoma. And if you're a woman, and have babies in your future, it could not only be your health in question, but your baby's as well. 

Of course, you can't guarantee that you won't get melanoma or other skin cancers just by being safe in the sun, so the really important part is to visit your dermatologist for a full body skin check once a year, and keep an eye on your freckles and moles, watching for changes and immediately have any suspicious spots biopsied (with a punch biopsy, no shaves!) and sent to pathology. I can't even stress how important that is, so many doctors have dismissed a funky mole, only later to find out it was skin cancer. If it bugs you, get rid of it. If your doctor won't listen, find a new one. 

Alright people, I've rambled on long enough! Thank you for reading this far :)

Yay

One of my proudest accomplishments before Battle #2 with melanoma was that I could do almost 10 dead hang pull ups. I know that might seem silly, but physical strength does not come naturally to me (nor does coordination or speed) and for years I've worked really hard to become stronger. After having my lymph nodes under my left arm removed, pull ups seemed impossible. Then after radiation cooked and burned everything left under there, my range of motion is shot, along with my strength. It's been frustrating to start all over with certain exercises, but it's been coming along. Yesterday I decided to see if I could even hang from a bar - I can't raise my hand straight up, so I wasn't sure. Sure enough, I could do that, so I tried to do a negative pull up, where you jump up to the top of a pull up (chin near the bar) and then lower yourself down slowly, to build up strength to be able to pull yourself up. The last time I tried a negative, I couldn't hold myself up at all. This time, I had a lot more control and I did much better. It was a very happy milestone for me. 

Ever since I've gotten into fitness, I've noticed how working out, and the accomplishments that go along with it, transition into the rest of life. When you lift weights, you are tearing up your muscle fibers, and when they repair, they grow back stronger and bigger (if you're a woman, don't take that to mean that you'll get body builder big from lifting weights - there are exceptions, but you won't!). When life throws things at us, we might be torn down for a little bit, but then we come back stronger than before. In fitness, you don't know how strong you are until you're pushed to your limits. When you think you can't run a mile, or lift a certain amount of weight, and then you do, it's an amazing feeling and you feel like you can accomplish anything at that point. In life, when you feel like you just can't take any more sadness or heartache, but you do and you deal with it and you move forward, you realize that you can handle ANYTHING. One of my favorite bible verses is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". True Story! Whatever obstacles you're facing in life - physical, emotional, mental, spiritual - you CAN overcome them.  Sure, we have limits. I'm not going to stand on top of the roof and jump off, thinking I'll be able to fly. But we have the ability to do so much more than we think. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. 

My little mini accomplishment in the gym yesterday was a reminder of how strong and resilient I really am. I haven't been through a fraction of what so many others have had to go through, but I've been through enough to know that I can handle whatever may come along. And, wherever you are, so can you. Sometimes it takes making a choice to not let the hardships define you, and it always takes some time, but you CAN and if you want to, WILL heal from anything that tears you down. Let go of your bitterness and sadness, and choose to learn and grow from the bad stuff! 

Borrowed from Chasing a Miracle