I am not invinsible

Funny how some things sort of catch you off guard. You're going along, living your life, and--kerplunk--down drops some obstacle you never expected to appear. Usually, for me, it seems to be some weird health problem that usually only happens to old people: pleurisy, fractured ribs, bronchial infections. The latest one, though, caught me a bit off guard. In late December, this weird rash appeared on my chest, face, and back. It wasn't going away, so I decided to take a trip to my dermatologist. She diagnosed me with pityriasis rosea. It is rare to appear on your face, but this is me, so...While there, I asked her to check out a mole on my right calf. She said it looked fine, but would remove it as a precaution. In. Out. Done. Five days later I got a phone call from my dermatologist telling me the mole was melanoma. I had a little bit of cancer.

Yesterday I went back to remove some of the additional area around where the mole had been. I got a little nervous lying on the paper covered table. A few shots, cuts, stitches, and bandages later, I walked out of the office. I was feeling fine last night. It was uncomfortable, but not too painful. I could walk pretty normally. This morning I woke up and climbed out of bed. My leg hurt pretty bad. So now I am stuck hobbling around. It's kind of tough to teach. My students are calling me Miss Wobbly and like to imitate my limp. They all wanted to hear the story, see the wound. I go back in two weeks to get the stitches removed.

I am not really scared. The survival rate is over 95%. My dermatologist said I caught it really early. But it's weird how something like this can make your realize that you are indeed human. A little part of me always thinks, I take care of myself, eat well, exercise, wear sunscreen, don't smoke, I should be fine. But even trying my best, there are some things that just happen. You just gotta climb over that little bump in the road, and keep moving forward.