Nuclear medicine - that is not a location I ever thought of visiting. There we were yesterday preparing for the "mapping" of lymph nodes. They put me on a table about as big as an ironing board - and just as flat - and injected two small amounts of radioactive fluid into the scar where my mole was removed. It felt like I was being branded - HOT! Then I lay motionless on the ironing board for an hour and a half while the chemical moved from the injection site to lymph nodes. All the while a large cylinder-like camera was millimeters from my nose and ear. Today my neck is sore. I had two great nurses and a really nice doc who cared from me in Nuclear Medicine. I am not glowing today - nor do I have any unusual supernatural powers - rats.

After the mapping was done we mosied on down to the CancerCare Clinic to meet Dr Nason. What a nice guy! Mildred Dyck said he would be (we met her there - she was so positive!) He checked my body for more moles and we visited a bit further about our next steps. It sounds as though we might do more than one node removal (maybe 20-30) due to the mapping showing 3 nodes where the chemical went. After he reviews the information further we will meet again to build a plan. This all went well.

While in the waiting room we met a guitar playing guy who plays there twice a week. He was playing what I thought was Lenny Breau guitar - and it turns out- he used to be in Lenny's band. That was quite something.

I realized how fortunate I am. I am so thankful that I can go through these tests and procedures rather than my wife or children. I am thankful that I have a great team beside me to take care of customers when I am away. I am thankful that we have parents available who eagerly take care of our children when we need to do other things. Truly blessed.

For those of you who are reading this, please send a prayer up for a friend of mine - Trevor Steinbring. Trevor resides in Barrhead Alberta. He was diagnosed Tuesday with acute Leukemia. Let's perk his spirits by sending him a very quick email at tsteinbring@grizzlytrail.com to let him know that you prayed for him. He was not feeling well at all last week. Trevor is in his ealy 30's, married with two small children.

I will wait to hear back from Dr Nason for another visit before surgery - during the back half of October. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday was a great day! Our worship band Out of the Fog played in church - went well. Then off to Ma's (Kel's mom) for lunch - Vereneke! I had 9 - then 4 for dessert. A short medachschlope with Dude and off to my mom's for a Schroeder gathering - big bbq. That is quite a tremendous family. Seems as though there have been others in the clan with Melanomas and cancer. They are a positive bunch and work hard at getting together once in while.

Some minor news today. I have an appt in Wpg, HSC to get the mapping done on my Lymph nodes. This is a precursor to the surgery required later in October. The appt is for Wednesday the 27th - Happy Birthday to cousin Pitah. This will tell the docs and me where the incision will be for the lymph node removal. The surgeon is Dr. Nasson (sp?) who is a head and neck specialist. I'll meet him after the mapping apparently. I am looking forward to having this completed.

Thanks for all the emails, phone calls and words of encouragement from so many of you. It is really quite amazing. I have heard so many stories of people we know who have beaten the Melanoma thing and I plan to add my name to that list.

You'll see a picture of my brothers grade 3 clas photo to the left. Ain't he cute?

Here we go - blogging. This is new to me folks so please bear with me.

The whole thing started early in spring. I noticed a mole on my neck, just below my jaw line, that was beginning to grow. It raised a bit and often got nicked while shaving. It got a little infected, pussed, scabbed over, was itchy and looked poor. Kelly and my mom both pushed me to get it checked out - so I did. A family practioner referred me to Doctor Jacob who decided it was going to come off - it was suspicious. So the appt was made and I went to Boundary Trails for the procedure. It really wasn't very much fun. That was August 9th. It didn't heal the best- kinda looked angry - so we got some ........cillin for it and it healed nice. Then, Sept 1., Dr Jacob called me to invite me in for a visit regarding the results. At that point I suspected that this wasn't so good. I was informed that it was a malignant melanoma. It was 2.5 mm thick. THey measure these things closely to determine the severity etc. It is either a stage II or III depending on how the next surgery goes. This was cut and pasted from MPIP.com

Stage II Definition
The tumor is 1.5 millimeters to 4 millimeters (less than 1/6 of an inch) thick. It has spread to the lower part of the inner layer of skin (dermis), but not into the tissue below the skin or into nearby lymph nodes.
Treatment for Stage II MelanomaYour treatment may be one of the following:
1. Wide surgical excision (also called a wide local excision or WLE).
2. Wide surgical excision of the tumor and removal of nearby lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy). Clinical trials are evaluating whether removal of lymph nodes improves outcome.
3. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by adjuvant systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
4. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by chemotherapy given directly into the arm or leg where the melanoma was (isolated arterial perfusion).

So I will be the recipient of a Sentinnal Node Disection or removal. They will put some radio active chemical into the scar to see where/which lymph node the fluid drains to. They will cout that Lymph node out and inspect it to see if the cancer has got there. If not - that is a very good thing. If it has then we will see what happens next for me. Regardless, they will be taking a bigger "margin" of skin from my nect - sometic surgery or a skin graft may be necessary. My surgeon suggested that there were some studies going on right now that I could be a part of. These involved taking Interferon.

Kelly came with me yesterday to Wpg. After the appts we had coffee with brother Steve and sister Chris. I have had lots of great emails and calls of caring and encouragment from many family and friends. Your thoughts and prayers on behalf of my family and I are welcome and appreciated greatly.

The worst part of the whole thing is not knowing where this whole thing is going. The good news is that I feel pretty good. Probably more stressed than usual. I am very thankful for a very supportive family and fantastic work associates who relieve my load daily.

So my plans will be to "Trust in the Lord with all my heart. Leaning not on my own understanding; In all my ways acknowleding Him, and He will direct my path". PRov 3:5-6

My surgery will most likely occur during the back half of October.