Don’t look too closely, unless you’re gross like me and want to. No, that is not a red Christmas decoration in the picture above. It is an amelanotic melanoma that Dr. Chris Shewmake dug out of the tip of my nose. Gross!
I have learned a lot about melanoma since then. For example, most melanoma is black. Mine is red and rare, only 2% of melanomas are amelanotic, meaning ‘absence of pigment.’ In the case of melanoma, it means absence of the color black.
Prognosis
After a week of waiting, my PET scan appointment arrived on a Friday. A PET scan is when they put you in a big machine and scan your whole body to see if the cancer has metastasized somewhere else. I meant to take a picture of me strapped down to a table, slowly going into the mouth of this mammoth machine but, as you can imagine, I forgot. The seriousness of it all began to sink in while I was there. Prior to the PET scan, I think I was in denial.
After the procedure was over, I pulled out all my charm and begged the technician to read me the findings. But he wouldn’t. Then I resorted to bribery; again, he wouldn’t.
It Was a Long Weekend
With no hint from the technicians about my PET scan findings, my mind raced to the worst-case scenario. I went from cancer denial to death-prep in two days. I texted my kids and told them I felt like I was the heroine in a sci-fi movie who was waiting to find out how long she had to live and save the world. I was a little dramatic.
Monday Came
At noon on Monday, I am back at CARTI waiting to see the doctor. By now, I had convinced myself, and almost convinced Grady, that my nose cancer had spread to my brain hence my absent mindedness and memory loss.
When Dr. Rhonda Gentry bounced in jovially, we hardly comprehended the good news. She reported the cancer was isolated to my nose and could easily be treated with the new cancer medicine Keytruda.
Afterwards, in the parking lot, Grady and I celebrated with tears of joy. Suddenly, my memory is back (the mind is a tricky thing), I have new gratitude for life, and my plan to run for Mayor of Little Rock is brewing again.
This year my Christmas Miracle is gratitude.
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