last week i lost my dad to stage iv melanoma. he fought hard for 10 months and never quit. i've posted his history here a couple of times, so i won't go into much detail, but i want to again stress how important regular check ups and regular scans are to anyone who has had any stage of melanoma! if my dad had been given proper follow up care after his first melanoma seven years ago, he might be alive today. seven years ago, my dad's doctor declared him to be cancer free and told my dad the chance of a recurrence was about 15%.

my dad's death took all of us completely by surprise. he was the strongest and bravest man i've ever known. and i'm not talking about just emotionally and his brave fight with cancer. my dad believed in physical fitness, a good diet, and regular exercise. he preached at us constantly to keep in shape and to take care of ourselves. when i say this took us by surprise, i mean we all expected him to beat this cancer! the one thing i know he would want us to do is spread the word on how dangerous this disease really is. too many people just don't know or understand or take it seriously!

i wish all of you well in your own battles and you are all in my prayers.

Oh no, I am so sorry about your dad. I do remember you posting about your dad. Please accept my sincerest sympathies! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I am so sorry to hear about your Dad. You are right, everyone needs to be diligent with their follow up care. Once you've been diagnosed with Melanoma, you HAVE to do follow up checkups forever. You can't let it slack...

You have my sincere condolences. It sounds like you were very blessed with a wonderful father.

The exact same thing happened to my brother. I am very sorry to hear about your loss.....We were also taken by surprise. Thanks for doing your best to keep everyone vigilant about this deadly cancer. My brother was declared "cancer free" three years before he died. He still went to the derm for his check-ups and never had a recurrance on his skin- all the while it was growing inside of him. I wonder now why they (his derm) didn't order CT or PET scans for him...probably would've been preventable if they had done these tests and blood work on him....very tragic....Hang in there...It sucks to lose someone like this...Very painful, and very swift....EVERYONE!!!! Please be vigilant about your follow-ups and don't let your Dr.'s ever tell you that you don't need scans and bloodwork....YOU DO!!! Those tests would've probably saved my brothers life...good luck and god bless.....

The exact same thing happened to my brother. I am very sorry to hear about your loss.....We were also taken by surprise. Thanks for doing your best to keep everyone vigilant about this deadly cancer. My brother was declared "cancer free" three years before he died. He still went to the derm for his check-ups and never had a recurrance on his skin- all the while it was growing inside of him. I wonder now why they (his derm) didn't order CT or PET scans for him...probably would've been preventable if they had done these tests and blood work on him....very tragic....Hang in there...It sucks to lose someone like this...Very painful, and very swift....EVERYONE!!!! Please be vigilant about your follow-ups and don't let your Dr.'s ever tell you that you don't need scans and bloodwork....YOU DO!!! Those tests would've probably saved my brothers life...good luck and god bless.....

Sorry to hear about your brother. You're so right about being dilligent. They gave my daughter a petscan, but not me and my melanoma was deeper and larger than hers. I'm calling tomorrow. Thank you.

MCR and 76,

I am so very sorry for both of your losses. I cannot comprehend how deeply sad your losses must have made you feel. You both are in my thoughts... I wish you both to be filled with peace.

thank you for all of your thoughts and kind words. you guys, i know my dad would have had a chance if they'd caught his melanoma early on, but by the time they did a scan on him, he had tumors everywhere! do what you can to get those scans now, because they really will save your life!!! i pray for all of you that you don't have to ever deal with this disease the way my dad and 76blazer's brother did.