Senior Moments
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
I’ve been playing quite a lot of geezer golf this summer (rather badly, I should add) while succeeding in maintaining a death row inmate standard of paleness. But just the other day upon completion of another ‘soaring’ round I noticed that I was rather sunburned. This puzzled me more than a little. I could have sworn that I’d applied my usual copious dose of sunscreen before hitting the links. But on closer inspection of the bottle of lotion I’d tapped that morning, I discovered that I’d managed to use a zero SPF moisturizing lotion from a container that looked only somewhat like my bottle ..read more
Visit website
Seventh Heaven
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
Today is the 7th anniversary of my little blog. Its continuing existence is either evidence of an excessive degree of self-absorption or a celebration of long term survivorship. You be the judge. I’d prefer to believe that because I’ve been blessed with good fortune, every so often I feel an obligation to hold my hand up and be counted among the still-living at The Hotel Melanoma. My golf game still stinks, partly due to various effects of past treatments, but I’ve lived to a time when a recurrence would no longer be an almost certain death sentence. And I can live with my frequent 3-putts an ..read more
Visit website
Glow Your Own Way
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
My spouse and I are contemplating a winter getaway, perhaps to a beach in Mexico or a golf course in Arizona, but probably not to Florida where we’re afraid we’d run into way too many other old people. The only thing I know for certain is that I won’t be coming home fried-- and if you too are contemplating a snowbird getaway I hope you won’t either because, trust me on this, you don’t want to be checking into The Hotel Melanoma. Your beach or desert golf ‘glow’ would much better come from your sparkling wit under the influence of a margarita or three than an excessive dose of UV rays. Okay ..read more
Visit website
The Skin Crowd
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
Just for grins and the dancing pleasure of my molemates, here’s The Hotel Melanoma rendition of Dobie Gray’s “The ‘In’ Crowd”… I'm in with the skin crowd, I glow where the skin crowd glows I'm in with the skin crowd and I grow what the skin crowd grows Anytime of the year, don't you hear? Bless benign, baking nein We breeze up and down the street, we get respect from the people we meet They make way day or night, they know the skin crowd ain’t out of fight I'm in with the skin crowd, I know every palest stance When you're in with the skin crowd, it's so easy to find long pants Any tim ..read more
Visit website
I Just Want To Thank You
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
As a blogger and melavangelist, I’ve been quite the slacker of late, preferring to play a lot of golf (rather poorly I should add) over doing anything worthwhile and productive. But the Saturday before Thanksgiving is sort of a ‘cancerversary’ for me, because that was the day in 2003 when I was released from the hospital after completing my last round of biochemotherapy. Thirteen years of “no evidence of disease”. I’m lucky and blessed, but so often perplexed and sorrowful that all too many of my molemates haven’t been as fortunate as me. So today, I just want to thank all of the folks wh ..read more
Visit website
Cloudy Days
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
So, I’ve been feeling a little glum since removing myself from a volunteer position in the melanoma nonprofit community. (And losing a stroke on my home course handicap hasn’t helped to improve my cranky mood.) Despite the good intentions of all involved in the endeavor, sometimes these things just don’t work out like you hoped they would and you come to the realization that it’s time to move on and hope you can be more effective elsewhere. But this aging melavangelist ain’t givin’ up just yet. I will seek and find another way to be actively and effectively involved in supporting melanoma rese ..read more
Visit website
Reaching Out
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
A large part of why I’m so glad I eventually wandered out of my lonely, single room at The Hotel Melanoma is that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know one of the true gems of the melanoma community, (Rev.) Carol Taylor. As many of you know, Carol (a/k/a Southern Mama Preacher) founded the Facebook community page Melanoma Prayer Center and it’s been a source of comfort, support and inspiration to thousands of melahomies. Carol has lived a life of service to her family, her church, and the melanoma community—which has made it a great honor for a very flawed and less selfless fellow like ..read more
Visit website
Forever Young
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
Next month I’ll turn 63. And in the “I’ll never-grow-old” fantasy world of this Baby Boomer, that’s middle-aged. During my first decade or so of living at The Hotel Melanoma, my life planning horizon didn’t extend beyond my next 90-day or 6-month checkup etc. at the melanoma clinic. And I don’t think that’s the least bit uncommon among my N.E.D. melahomies who are also living with a high risk of recurrence. But slowly yet surely over the course of the past couple of years I’ve started to contemplate the possibility that I might, just might, actually grow old. Really old. (Although I’m convi ..read more
Visit website
Just Rewards
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
Many of we residents at The Hotel Melanoma are all too familiar with ‘Dr.’ Joseph Mercola and his quack claims about the health benefits of exposure to ultraviolet light, false advertising claims made to promote and sell his own line of tanning beds. But it seems that Lyin’ Joe is about to receive the just rewards of his quackery, as this past week the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement of its false advertising lawsuit against Mercola. Settlement terms include making refunds to buyers of his tanning beds in an amount up to $5.3 million and a promise to stop selling his cancer i ..read more
Visit website
Something Good Coming
Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma
by
3y ago
Back in the Dark Ages of melanoma treatment, 2003 to be exact, I had a close encounter with a Stage IV diagnosis. A CT scan showed a large mass next to my cervical spine. The initial prognosis was quite grim, as further metastasis to my spine, brain and heart was likely. I was told that the only treatment options available at the time, radiation and chemotherapy, might extend my life a few months but would not commute my almost certain death sentence. Lucky for me, and against all odds, the mass turned out to be a benign nerve tissue tumor, not a melanoma tumor. It’s been one troublesome sonof ..read more
Visit website

Follow Welcome to The Hotel Melanoma on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR