Great news about Terri. I have learned to love pink as well as not complaining about having another birthday....at least I am here to have another birthday! Saturday I did my 3rd Relay for Life walk.....with my daughter and granddaughter with me. The first lap is for survivors and the second lap is for survivors and their care givers. Lots of sniffling going on for those 2 laps. If Terri has Relays in her area encourage her to go....each year I attend is a greatful year. I bared my head as soon as I felt comfortable doing so....when I flung the wig I never looked back to see where it landed! Because of my job I was forced to "cover my head" longer than I would have liked to....but thats OK cause it's all back and now I complain about how often I have to get a hair cut. I will keep Terri in my prayers as it takes a good while for life to get back to normal.

My brother was watching TV one day and happened upon a program where they were describing different types of skin cancer and one looked like a blue ink pen dot. He thought that looks like the spot on the bottom of my big toe. He had noticed this before and tried to wash it off but it stayed. He made an appointment and found out it was a melanoma! It was just a speck of a thing but they ended up having to go back a second time to get a clear margin. It wasn't so much the diameter as the depth they had to go. He was on crutches for several months as it took forever for it to heal. He is now over 5 years out and no other problems. Literally the TV show saved his life as he would never have gone to the doctor. Turns out it is not as unusual as you might think. Sometimes they are found between the toes or even under the nail.

Shannon, thanks for responding again & sharing more about yourself and family. I feel you really understand both sides of the coin; being the one with the diagnosis and being the loved one of that person. You are a very compassionate person who can put yourself in others' shoes. Auntjen...thanks for the hugs and good wishes. I appreciated your support! Texanjana, thanks so very much for your empathy & for your prayers. There has been a new development. Day before yesterday when my sister went to get her chest x-ray for pre-admission/pre-surgery, they found "something" on her lung. Today she had a CT done. Just talked to Peggy and all they determined via the CT was that there is a "mass" on her lung. The details still remain sketchy. They want to do a "fine needle aspiration" & a PET scan next week. She needs to call Monday to schedule those tests as no one was around this afternoon to do that. They have cancelled the surgery for Tuesday. She's hanging in there! I think she's looking forward to having a quiet day at home tomorrow (no tests) to "chill out!" Then we'll all be over to bug her on Sunday! Hopefully by the end of next week we'll have a better idea of exactly what she has & how it should be treated. Again, thanks to each of you for your interest, support and prayers.

my husband, doug, had breast cancer in 2001. it came as quite a shock to our family. he was having a bloody discharge from his left nipple for 3 months before he approached me with tears in his eyes. upon going to several surgeons for opinions, we were met with much fear based haste to make decisions. one of the options presented to my husband was to remove his testicles. that wasn't an option on our priority list, and in, fact, even a biopsy was refused by my husband as there is a theory that once the cancer clusters are punctured, wayward cancer cells can travel throughout the body. we did a lot of reading and computer research to find answers. my father bought doug several shipments of appropriate supplements and some of the powdered herbs, graviola and cat's claw. we got appointments with a D.O. , a chiropractor, an herbalist, and a counselor. doug started exercizing, eating simply and nutritiously, and meditating. one of the best resource books we read was susun weed's book, BREAST CANCER? BREAST HEALTH. susun's book helped him relax, become introspective, and regain health. she offers an informative description of an anti-cancer lifestyle, what it is to be diagnosed with cancer, explanations of diagnostic procedures, in home treatments as well as treatments offered by the medical establishment. She outlined 6 steps of healing which empowers the person with cancer to take the course of healing into their own hands. here is a link to her site if anyone would like to visit: http://breasthealthcancerprevention.com/ during this time, we visited a surgeon who specialized in women's health in the southern part of our state. she monitored the tumour's size and growth by ultrasound, something that had been discouraged in our own area. doug gave himself one year to treat the small in situ tumour on his own. at the end of the year, the cancer had not grown, but doug chose to have the tumour taken from his breast. he has been cancer free ever since...9 years. alot of his well-being during that time with cancer he attributes to the philosphy shared in susun weed's book, his relaxed positive outlook, and his ability to not buy into the fear factor. .