What's in it for me?

Well, it's been almost a month since the launch of the #NotJustSkinCancer video, and it has reached over 53 000 people on YouTube so far, with additional media coverage on radio, TV and in print. The intensity of the campaign is going to move on across Canada, with opportunities for other melanoma survivors to share their stories, and other audiences to be reached.  I will happily continue to watch it all from the comfort of my home.  

I have enjoyed being part of it, and I appreciate the amount of opportunity it has afforded my writing goals.  Everyone involved in this project has been wonderful, and I am grateful to have been able to share in it.  

I have also appreciated the other benefits I have received from working on this initiative:

• hopefully helping others to feel less "alone" than I did upon melanoma diagnosis
• education & advocacy; I'm not out of the woods, and my daughters are now at risk of a melanoma heredity, so I want to do everything I can to make sure there are treatments if and when we need them in the future (I never claimed this volunteer effort wasn't also for self-preservation!)
• being a good example for my kiddos: taking action about something I believe in ~ making lemonade out of my lemons
• for my writing career: I finally know what I want to be when I grow up!

And last but certainly not least:

• to see what I really can do ie. energy level, concentration, stamina

I have mentioned plenty of times how I feel that I am not the same person I used to be, especially physically speaking: my mobility is hampered, my leg is damaged, cancer/treatment weight gain plagues me, and I am struggling with the side effects of Reverse T3 hypo-AND-hyper-thyroidism.  

Add chemo brain on top of it all and based on my experience, I am not (yet?) fit to manage a cash office and payroll process for a large group of people who depend on me for accuracy, efficiency, resourcefulness, and quick-thinking.  

The kind of effort I have been putting into the #NotJustSkinCancer campaign is reminiscent of my professional work experience... conference calls, writing projects, statistics, a bit of commuting, public-speaking, organizing, committing to being specific places at specific times.  

I have accomplished a bunch of those items, but at a slow pace and usually from the privacy of home.  I could nap when I needed to, I didn't have to worry about wardrobe or mascara, or keeping a happy face when discouraged, anxious, or tired. 

I have enjoyed testing out my strength and steadiness, both mentally and physically.  Overall I have met most of the goals of my small part of the #NotJustSkinCancer campaign, but not without cost.  I am exhausted.  And I don't think I have really done that much!  Mental energy spent mostly?
It's strange, some days I have the energy of an ENTP Gemini Fire Dragon LOL  but then I am more like a hibernating (cranky) bear for a few days.  It is in line with my roller coaster experience with this disease from the start, but it is frustrating to be still living it every day.   And not to worry A, or anybody, it's okay, it's not irreparable exhaustion, it will be fine. 

I am motivated to keep pushing myself for this cause, for the reasons mentioned above but also for my peace of mind.  I am getting to know my "new self," figuring out whatever it means to say "new normal."  If I can again start running around customer servicing and being intelligent then by all means I will.  And I consider advocating for melanoma awareness a great way to test the waters.

The next few weeks still bring work in the melanoma awareness category for me, as May is Melanoma Awareness month here in North America(ish).  This weekend the girls and I will be in Toronto again for Melanoma Monday, on behalf of Save Your Skin Foundation, at the Become a Skin Checker event hosted by LaRoche-Posay.  

I will be sharing my story to help bring awareness to the importance of skin health and routine checking of skin for moles or irregularities that could prevent a late-stage diagnosis of skin cancer.  

My personal transition from #NotJustSkinCancer to #BecomeASkinChecker is an easy one, as it is all very close to my heart.  

After a couple of cool projects for Melanoma-Awareness-May I will be exploring a volunteer opportunity offered to me by The Cancer Society, participating in a very cool event in the Fall, right here in our southern Georgian Bay neighbourhood!  More to come on that... I can't talk about it just yet.  :-)  

In the meantime of course family life continues, and Sunnybrook appointments loom.  May and June always bring chaos but this year seems to be exorbitant: end of school year, projects to tidy up, 4 birthdays to celebrate, summer jobs to find for 2 teenagers, 3-day trip to Ottawa for their entire Grade 8 class, and... drumroll please... Grade 8 GRADUATION.  Buckle up folks, I'm gonna be a wreck. 

LOL!!

Me, Guest Blogger! HerMagazine.ca - Parenting While Fighting Advanced Melanoma

I am honoured to say that I was asked to write a guest blog for Her Magazine, about my experience with melanoma and how that has impacted my role as a parent.  The article also introduces the #NotJustSkinCancer video.  

Among all of the pieces I have written to date, this is one of my favourites.  It is honest, emotional, and, in consultation with my girls, it captures a personal insight into the last two years of life in our household.  Please click here to read my perspective on:

Parenting While Fighting Advanced Melanoma

(update 30-March-2018: sadly, Her Magazine has been retired from the internet, so the links to my articles there no longer work.  This article however, was re-published on HuffPost.  You can find it HERE - thanks!)

Thank you so much to HerMagazine.ca for giving the opportunity to share my story and that of the #NotJustSkinCancer discussion.  I love your site and the refreshing, informative, vibrant articles you share.   

Thanks also to the "contributing editor," you know who you are A ;-) - couldn't be doing this without you and your team.  Endless thanks to all who have embraced my participation in this project and enabled exploration of my passion to WriTe.  

Her Magazine is a lifestyle magazine for women that are smart, strong, successful and inspiring.

Launched in Canada in 2013, Her Magazine is the brainchild of Tal Srulovicz and Stephanie Kleiman – two 35+ aged women seeking authentic online content on issues that really matter to their demographic.  

Their mission is to share tell-it-as-it-is content for women 35+ written by women 35+.

Contributors write about love, marriage, sex, life, womanhood, travel, work, money and health issues. It’s the stuff every woman really wants to read about.

PS - Please feel free to click on the article and share from their website onto your facebook/twitter/pinterest etc... it all helps share the message!  

Thank you 

 

(This photo is the first digital pic ever taken of us; Claire is on the left,
Cassandra on the right, Me with NOT-grey hair wink wink! ~ Elmvale Zoo, Sept. 2004)

 

Day 732

Here it is, the two-year mark since I was informed I have stage 3b nodular melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer; with Breslow depth of 12.5 mm, Clark level 5, three mitoses per millimeter squared.  I have since learned what that means.  Bad news.

It was a clear sunny day, which quickly became dark, as my family physician explained to me that the sentinal node biopsy I had had the week prior showed metastases (spread of cancer) to my lymph nodes.  It was in my lymphatic system.  Even more bad news.  

Two years (plus a 'leap day') later: 731 days, 4 surgeries for melanoma, 8 immunotherapy treatments, 2 months on complete bedrest (9 weeks NO driving!), several missed events for 1 set of twins trying to keep on living during this battle, 9 CT Scans, 1 leg with lymphedema, 2 years away from work, a team of 10 physicians across 4 Ontario hospitals, 30,000 hits on my blog, countless emotional days spent in recovery later I am content to report that I can enjoy today with a feeling of peace that, upon diagnosis, I did not expect to feel ever again. 

Today I was invited to speak to a group of youth about the importance of sun safety, and I could not think of a better way to spend this clear sunny April anniversary.  Thanks to the Rocklyn Agricultural Society for inviting me to speak to Junior Ambassadors (Fall Fair) from around our region, about the importance of sun safety, skin health, and the serious nature of skin cancer, in that it is #NotJustSkinCancer.  

I was able to present to them the #NotJustSkinCancer video, as well as the Become a Skin Checker video which is a great representation (especially to kids/teens) of how to examine your own skin and that of your loved ones for dangerous-looking moles or potential problems.  The dalmatians are a fantastic way to give a visual representation to "SPOT Skin Cancer to STOP Skin Cancer."

I was happy to pass around the audience samples of sunscreen (which most applied to their noses and cheeks - it was so cute!) as well as the art piece I was gifted from the group filming the #NotJustSkinCancer video.  

They asked some great questions and I even ended up with homework to do!  I must get back to the group about "UVC" exposure, as we discussed broad-spectrum SPF and UVA and UVB radiation from sun rays, one student had heard about UVC rays as well - I promised I will ask the LaRoche-Posay experts next week at Melanoma Monday and I will get back to the Rocklyn Ag. Society with the answer.  

Thank you for the heart-warming way to spend an afternoon folks, and thank you for the flowers.  I will speak to you again soon!

As for the rest of the day, I am resting up from a busy week, an enlightening-as-always visit from The Warden --oops my Mom-- ;-)  and chillin' with the kiddos in the shade.  

Love and gratitude from me to you... thank you for being through 731 days and counting....      Thank you All!

And thank you to Claire for joining me today... "Daughter of the Year" as proclaimed by Cass  ;-)

PS - Today also marks 577 days since my diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer, which was found in CT Scans for melanoma.

Day 577

All this talk about melanoma has almost made me feel badly about neglecting my other cancer baby: papillary thyroid cancer.  

577 days ago, a few months into my melanoma diagnosis, I was diagnosed with a second "primary" cancer, a tumor on my thyroid gland.  It appeared on my CT scans for melanoma and I was instantly referred to the head of Head & Neck Surgery at Sunnybrook, in late September, 2014.  I had surgery to remove the tumor - and my thyroid gland as well as 2 of 4 parathyroid - in December 2014.  

It was at this point in my melanoma journey I truly moved from the denial stage to a deep-seated fear.  

The painful needle biopsy of a lymph node in the base of my throat showed a metastases of cancer from a tumor (on my thyroid) to the surrounding nodes, but it confirmed that the cancer spread was that of a new type of cancer, not a melanoma.  Believe it or not, that was the good news.  

Melanoma spreads silently, appearing anywhere in the body other than its original site, but this... this was a new one.  Which made it "less dangerous" than that of a spread of melanoma.  And this is where my fear deepened.. my fear of melanoma that is.  

Here I was, with a double-whammy of cancer (which is now a source of wary fodder in our household), planning surgery and treatment of papillary thyroid cancer in between that of melanoma.  

For those of you who have been reading this blog all along, you understand why I have been so pissy.  For those of you who may be new to this blog.. please understand this is another reason why I have been so pissy! 

I thought I would re-cap the highlights of my journey through thyroid cancer, for anyone who may wish to hear more about it, or may wish to connect if they are in the same boat.  I had thyroidectomy in December 2014, I had radioactive iodine treatment in March 2015, I take Levothyroxine Sodium 200 mcg daily (one hour before coffee every morning!) for thyroid hormone replacement plus TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) suppression (due to my intermediate-risk of recurrence).   

Today's melanoma anniversary also marks the time that I would be able to become pregnant again should I so wish to do (which I do NOT); I signed a contract saying I wouldn't become preggers for a year after I-131 Radioactive iodine treatment as it would harm a baby.  I am now deemed clear of said radiation.

In any case, here is a re-cap of links from my thyroid cancer journey since September 2014:

Well... THAT happened.

Dreaming of morning coffee on a sunny day

Lymph Nodes

Radioactive Iodine Treatment, Part 1

Low Iodine Diet

Highs/Lows of my 2-week LID

Radioactive Iodine Treatment, Part 2 

Radioactive Iodine Treatment, Part 3

Life After Thyroid Cancer 

Nuclear Medicine Scan - Thyroid 

PS - the 577 days was slightly more difficult to calculate than the 732-day(2 year) melanoma anniversary, so I used a little calculator site. 

Gratitude Fuels My Determination - Column - Meaford Express - Simcoe.com April 2016

My family and I have been cared for through my cancer experience by countless members of our community, and I can now begin to try to give back.  

I am immeasurably grateful for all of the messages, letters, cards, gifts, flowers, meals, rides, care for the girls, snow removal, shoulders to cry on, kicks in the ass, patience with my anti-social behaviour, support of my writing efforts - my family, friends, and community members are the most fantastic people anyone could have by their side.  

Thank you for everything!

I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to write a little column in the Meaford Express, rather online Metroland Media - Simcoe.com.  My first column is published today, woweee!  

I write all the time but I still have so much to say.  I plan to talk about my experiences with melanoma of course, but also thyroid cancer, as well as local cancer-related events or tips for caring for a cancer friend, or how to quell the crazies while in treatment... please keep an eye out for it! 

For my first one though, I knew immediately what I wanted to say.  Thank you. Thank you! Thank you my dear generous loving community, my family and I are grateful for everything you do and have done.  There are plenty of examples around town of people helping others, and I am grateful to say I am one of them.  And I plan to return the favour!  Somehow... I will.  

Gratitude Fuels my Determination 

PS - For anyone who may be curious... this is a guest column, and as such, is an UN-paid position.  I am still employed, but remain on medical leave until such time as I am able to return to work.  All of this writing is for voluntary advocacy, hobby, and/or catharsis.  Any questions or complaints please feel free to contact me directly at natalie.richardson@gmail.com   Thank you.

Meaford resident helping raise awareness of the dangers of skin cancer

And the PR continues... :-)  Great for the #NotJustSkinCancer campaign!  

(I promise I will get back to writing about the usual stuff shortly) 

This week's edition of The Meaford Express has an article about my experience with melanoma and the #NotJustSkinCancer video.  Please feel free to check it out, I feel Chris Fell captured our story very well.  Here it is:

  Meaford resident helping raise awareness 
of the dangers of skin cancer

This Editorial also accompanied the article: http://www.simcoe.com/opinion-story/6481706-skin-cancer-awareness-is-important/

Thank you!