My surgery is scheduled for next week. Malignant melanoma. Clearing the tissue near the biopsy site. I am worried. Melanoma is 2% of all skin cancers. It is 70% of all skin cancer deaths. It is easily cured if caught early. Mine was not caught early. It grew unnoticed on my back. The worry of metastasis starts when the cancer is deeper than one millimeter.  Mine was 1.5.

Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with lung cancer, lymphomas, and skin cancer. I belong to the group that always seems to get the longshots. Since this is cancer number five, I’m worried that my number is up.

Since mine was deep, it may have metastasized. Lungs. Bones. Brain. GI system.

The surgical procedure includes mapping the sentinel node. This is done in nuclear medicine. Needles are inserted in my back to highlight the location of the lymph nodes. The surgery is done under general anesthesia. The incision is deep and wide. Some require a skin graft. If there is cancer in the  sentinel node, it will be excised along with nearby lymph nodes.

I may wake up to metastatic cancer. Treatment may involve further testing in the areas most likely to be growing the cancers.  Depending on my particular case, treatment may include immunotherapy, targeted drug treatment, chemotherapy, radiation, and gene therapy, such as with Braftovi.

I have spent plenty of time worrying about my future with this cancer. It is time to stop.   I have other issues to deal with. And as we know well, life does go on most of the time.