Thankful for the Roller Coaster
Last week Mike got the news that his scans were once again clear, 18 mos after diagnosis. And once again it was PURE TORTURE waiting for the call from the doc – and PURE RELIEF when we got the news. Our life would have changed so drastically if we had gotten bad news. But instead we celebrated in Vegas this past weekend with 3 other couples. We had a blast!
Someone asked me if the clear scans meant Mike had beaten melanoma. I would love to say yes…but we really don’t know the answer to that because melanoma is different than most cancers. Many people with other cancers can say they are “cured” 5 years out. But Melanoma often comes back unexpectedly – 5-20 years later. I don’t think we will ever live without the fear that it will return – unless they find a drug for this horrible disease.
So for now, we will just continue to live our lives as normal as possible and enjoy every moment. Life is a roller coaster ride – some parts are scary and some parts are fun…
The New York, New York Roller Coaster in Vegas
6 Month Increments of Normalcy (kind of)
So another 6 months have passed and that means it’s PET scan time for Mike. We are 18 mos out from a Stage IIIa melanoma diagnosis. It seems our life is now broken into 6 month increments. Waiting for the scan results is scary. We know of multiple people who have gotten bad news from scans even though they felt completely normal. That is how melanoma rolls. But the the good news is that when Mike hits 2 years, he will only have PET scans once a year.
I have to say that we have enjoyed the past 6 months of normal life. Life certainly isn’t the same as it was before a cancer diagnosis, but now we realize that it will never be. And that is just fine with us. So as we wait for scan results over the weekend, we will appreciate the past 6 months of health and normalcy. The fact that we can pay our bills, go to work, school, dinner, etc. is something we try to appreciate (well, most of the time). There are so many others suffering from illness and they just can’t do the mundane tasks we all take for granted. So please take a moment to appreciate your life, your health, your everyday mundane stuff because you are truly blessed to have these things.
Em
Em and Michael's Blog 
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