Fortunately, I'm well on my way to healing from surgery (this past summer) to remove melanoma from my left arm.  I am so thankful for the medical team who have been apart of my diagnosis, surgery, and recovery.  (Pictured above is me with one of the surgical nurses who tended to me during the surgery recovery process.)  I've shared in another post ("Deal With Problems When They Are Small") that this cancer was discovered after I my dermatologist retired and I had gone for three years without a dermatological check up.  I became concerned about some skin issues after a friend, in my church study group, was diagnosed with a cancer on his face, and I felt something of an "inner urging" to find a new dermatologist and have some places on my arms and face looked at.  This, however, proved to be a more challenging task that I had imagined.  Still I felt that God was with me and speaking to me through out this entire process.

The summer of 2025 was a challenging one for me.  In June I was discovered to have a melanoma on my left forearm.  While it had been my "medical discipline" to see a dermatologist once each year, several years ago my dermatologist retired and somehow I "fell through the cracks" in making an appointment with a new doctor.  I really didn't give it much thought until a friend, in our church small group, was diagnosed with a cancer on his face.  Fortunately they were able to remove it quickly and completely; but my friend's experience was a wake up call. I hadn't seen the skin doctor in three years and I had several places on my arms and face that I wondered about.  So I got a referral for a new dermatologist from my Primary Care Physician and scheduled the first available appointment.  Interestingly, when the doctor examined me, I was told that all of the places I was concerned about were nothing to worry about.  But then he came to my left arm.  Immediately the doctor was concerned.  Skin issues on my left arm were not even "on my radar" but he told me to lay down and that he was going to numb my arm and take a biopsy.  About 8 days later he called to tell me it was a melanoma and that he was referring me to a surgeon - I needed immediate attention.  Two weeks later I was having semi-major surgery to remove the melanoma, do a skin graft, and surgically biopsy lymph nodes.  I am very fortunate, and thrilled to report, that they were able to remove all of the melanoma from my arm and the lymph nodes were completely clear - they had caught it before it spread.  But from this experience I knew that this melanoma would have been much more easily dealt with if It had been discovered when it first began.   I was reminded of a valuable life lesson:  Deal With Problems While They Are Still Small!