Having blue eyes, red hair and fair skin, I have been sunburned numerous times as a kid and into adulthood. We didn't know any better and even used baby oil on occasion.

In July 2008, I started seeing a dermatologist for an annual skin check. In July 2010, a spot that came out of nowhere was removed, along with two other spots. One came back as basal cell carcinoma. One was negative, but the other was melanoma! Unfortunately, the spot was more than 2 mm deep, which meant a wide-excision and node biopsy. Having blue eyes, red hair and fair skin, I have been sunburned numerous times as a kid and into adulthood.

On my 45th birthday, I had that surgery, which indicated positive melanoma cells in my lymph nodes. On Halloween 2010, I had dissection of 15 nodes from my left groin. Unfortunately, two of those were positive for melanoma. I have been going every three months for CT scans and dermatologist checks since. So far, so good!

I just had a spot removed for my sanity because doctors were sure it wasn't melanoma. Unfortunately, it was positive and I had a second excision Tuesday. Luckily, we caught this one early. I’m hoping for clean margins. The waiting is the hardest part!