Headed home for the Holidays...
Hello again,
I can't believe that the holidays are here already. I don't know if you know this about me but I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS. I have most of my shopping done already and its not even Thanksgiving. That is how much I love the holidays. Tonight I am headed home to Michigan to see my family. It is about a 11 hour drive. My fiance is coming with me for Thanksgiving. I will be staying in Michigan until December 28th. There are so many things coming up both to look forward to and dread.
I look forward to spending time with my family. I look forward to eating tons of great food and playing games. My twin sister is graduating for Nursing school in 20 days (I know this because she has a count down on her myspace.com page and her AIM name). It makes me laugh. I am so proud of her. I think that I want to get a job or volunteer to wrap presents at the mall. How happy would I be if I could wrap presents all day (VERY HAPPY). My sister and I are going to volunteer at a soup kitchen, she doesn't know it yet though. Its going to be great.
Things I am dreading... Well the Monday after Christmas I am going to be having 3 or 4 moles removed. One on my arm, one on my leg and one on my back. They are bothersome. I requested that they be removed. Two of them look like the Melanoma I had before it turned to Melanoma. So right now they are nothing but I don't want to sit around and wait for them to be something. The other mole, my doctor always tells me to watch. And since its on my back that is nearly impossible. So off they come. There is no messing around at this point. I have to admit that I am pretty darn unhappy about it though. It has been almost 8 years since I have has a mole removed. And from what I remember it wasn't fun. I have come to cope with fear when I know if can save my life, a lesson I have learned through all of these years of surviving cancer.
Second, I am not looking forward to my 2 1/2 year check up. I have all my CT Scans and blood test just before Christmas. Then I go see my cancer doctors the week after. I go every 6 months to the doctors. And the last trip was the big one. The doctors said if I could go two years with no since of cancer after the IL 2 treatments it is very very rare for it to ever come back. I trust them I do, but it still doesn't make me any less scared to go. Before I had made it 5 years after stage 3 and 8 years was the all clear. And it came back. Two years was such a great milestone. After that appointment it felt great. I took everyone with me, my mom, sister, fiance. It was funny because the examine room was packed. Positive thinking tells me that it will be a great appointment where all I hears is how wonderful all the test come back. But the sliver of fear eats like a termite on wood, grinding my stomach into a billion little pieces.
So, for now I am going to focus on all the good. The time with family, thanksgiving food and fun, and black Friday shopping. Love it! I just can't wait to get home, where I hear it is snowing and supposed to continue. I am about to spend 11 hours in a car so, i know you don't wish you were me. =) Happy Holidays!!!
-Kelli
Posted on 10:39 PM by Kelli
Hello
Hello everyone!!! 
I am excited to make my first post of this blog which I found inspiration to do through the emails and comments I have received on my myspace.com site (www.myspace.com/skincancerawareness). I am sure you have read from my story that I am a stage 4 melanoma survivor and only 24 years old. In the last year I have really embraced that statement "I am a stage 4 melanoma survivor) and shared my story with the world. And it feels great! Many of us think it will never happen to us, that word cancer. Or many of us think and might find that this journey of surviving skin cancer is a lonely one. BUT... that is why I wanted to start blogging about it. You aren't alone, you aren't the only one, and sadly there are many other teenagers, young adults, and adults’ alike going through similar experiences. And I think that it’s about time we talked about it.
Awareness is the best defense. And now that skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in young adults ages 20-35, it is time to talk, share and learn about sun safe habits. So, I am so excited to share my thoughts and hear yours. There will be many more post to come.
Kelli
Posted on 2:25 PM by Kelli
