The biopsy is....

Ran to the phone, it's on the other side of the house.
Missed the call, listened to the voice mail.
Dermatologist's office asking for a call back.

Called back.
The biopsy is cancer, she says.
I want to shout to her, Hey I've been down this road before so tell me what kind specifically is it melanoma and so what do we do? Give it to me straight sister. I've reached at least the high school level of cancer education, don't talk to me like I am a kindergartener.
But I don't. I politely ask, what kind?
Basal cell carcinoma. Come in next week have it cut out.
WHOO - WHOO! Only basal cell, yes this is good.

I hang up the phone.Walk back to my office.

Wait a second. Are you kidding me? I just finished nine months of surgeries, chemo, radiation for breast cancer.
Just finished, like in five days ago.
Oh man.

Now, all I know about basal cell carcinoma is that you don't have to worry. You just cut it out and it doesn't come back. That sounds pretty pretty easy to me. Living in Florida, being a tennis player and golfer and someone who loves to be outside, well, the skin gets a lot of sunshine even though I am single handedly paying the salary of at least one employee at  Coppertone with all the suntan lotion our family goes through in a year.

But everyone down here gets this it seems. No big deal.

Okay, deep breath. Change the thought process. Turn away from the negative.
Been trying on different lifestyle changes to focus on WELLNESS for this coming year, for the coming years of life. This little blip will cement in my mind that they are important. I don't want this being a biopsy of the breast that she was talking about, and I get the same news... those words have such power... it's cancer.

This would have happened even if I didn't have breast cancer. Just a blip in the road. A pit stop on the road of life. A pimple on Miss America's face.

Dexa scan Friday showed good strong bones (ordered because I am on anastrozole which can weaken bones), they are less dense than a year ago's dexa scan. So my goal in the coming year, one of them, is to strengthen the bones. Calcium and Vitamin D and exercise are my friends!

I am cooking healthier, adding Meatless Mondays to our vocabulary. Soup Monday and Wednesday because we have yoga after dinner. Colorful vegetables, lots of them, and fruit. Exploring. Served Rainbow Swiss Chard sauted with shittake mushrooms and garlic for dinner last night. Corey asked, is it "charred" as in the way you cook it? Also Roasted Red Bell Pepper with Parmesean, olive oil and basil pasta, fresh pineapple on the side.

I am walking an hour a day. Bought this month's booklunch book as an audio file, so I have to walk 26 hours this month. Works out well. I need accountability. Trying to increase my endurance. Still tired, but not actually falling asleep every afternoon, just resting. Love to see these hurdles crossed.

I will go to the doctor next Wednesday, have them take out this basal cell, and be grateful it is so simple. And I will have a dermatology skin check every year, for the rest of my life. My long, long, long, healthy life...