Go Gators

It's Florida-Georgia Weekend! It's one of my favorites events of the year and I'm super excited to spend Saturday tailgating and watching football.....and maybe having a drink or 2..... :) Go Gators!

Next week I start a DietBet and start working on losing 10% of my body weight. It's exactly what I need to motivate me to lose the extra pounds I've been carrying around, and I love that DietBet promotes slow and steady weight loss. I have 5 months to lose 10%, then another month of maintaining that weight loss, which is pretty genius of them because maintaining can be just as difficult as losing. Check out the link (at the beginning of this paragraph) if you're interested in betting on yourself! I'm planning to use this blog as a kind of journal as I go along.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Immunoversary!

I swear I have good intentions when it comes to blogging - I have plenty to say, that's for sure, just not so much time to say it! Anyway, I realized that today is one year since I started immunotherapy and thought I should commemorate that. I only found out the day before or day of which arm of the clinical trial I was randomized into, and I was SO stressed out about it. I didn't want to be a guinea pig for some new medicine (although it helped that it was already approved for use in later staged melanoma patients), and I didn't want to get the old standard of care that would probably make me sick for a year and has a very low success rate. The 3 options were interferon (standard of care), and high or low dose ipilimumab (new drug being compared to interferon). I wanted the high dose because I figured "more = better", and was a little disappointed when I got the low dose. Well, once again I have been reminded that what I want isn't always best for me because a lot of people on the high dose (almost 3x the amount of the low dose) have had complications and had to quit the clinical trial. While I have had 7 of 8 doses and have had no side effects except a little fatigue right after I get a treatment, which I can totally deal with! I've got one more to go and could still have some side effects, but I've made it almost all the way through with little disruption to my life.

Feeling very thankful for this last year, and I'm constantly reminded that God blesses us through the storms in life :)

Whose Fault Is It?

I carry a certain amount of guilt about having melanoma. I assume smokers who get lung cancer feel like they caused it by smoking, and I wonder if I caused my melanoma by being less careful than I should have been in the sun, and using tanning beds. I see a lot of people in "mela-land" blaming their cancer on tanning. In my case, I have family history AND I tanned, so I honestly don't know which one caused it. There are people who have no known history, and no tanning history, so sometimes I think it's just plain bad luck. None of us will ever truly know what factor caused our cancer, or if it was a combination of genetics, environment, and/or luck. I relate melanoma and lung cancer because they both have major links to the choice to smoke or tan, but people with different cancers probably also wonder if they could have done anything to prevent it.

I read a post on Facebook this morning from Aim at Melanoma about a lawsuit between a woman with melanoma and the tanning salon(s) she went to. The jury ruled in favor of the tanning salon, and according to the few comments that were already posted, this made some people angry. It just reminded me that we live in a society of blame shifting. This woman tanned in tanning beds, allegedly after her dermatologist talked to her about the dangers of tanning, and continued tanning even after being diagnosed with melanoma, a day before her excision was planned, and again 3 days before her stitches were going to be removed. And then attempted to sue that tanning salon and several others. You can read the summary here if you want the entire story. Granted, the summary is written from the vantage point of the defendant's attorney, but it seems pretty clear to me that this woman ignored the risks of tanning, like so many of us have, but then wanted someone else to take responsibility. 

In my opinion, we have to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions - as hard as that can be. If someone is negligent and that causes us harm, then yes, they should be held responsible for their part. But I think most of us feel that it's unreasonable to sue cigarette companies over lung cancer, McDonald's over heart disease or coffee burns, or a brewery for a drunk driving accident, and this is no different. And I also think frivolous lawsuits like this one take away from the seriousness of the regulations needed in the tanning industry. A lot of states are working to pass laws to prohibit or restrict minors' use of tanning beds, and I think that's important, way more important than trying to play a blame game.

In related news, I have a half marathon this weekend, which was my choice, and I'm probably going to complain endlessly and maybe sue the race promoters because I'll definitely be in some pain afterwards ;)

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!!