Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Sister's Love

My sister, Kristy, sent this e-mail message to me the "morning after" I received the news that my "ugly freckle" was Malignant Melanoma Skin Cancer; may my sister's faith touch your heart as it did mine. 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Positive Thoughts!!
From: "dankovich"
Date: Tue, January 25, 2011 7:49 am
To: "Karen Hickam" <karen@karenrae.com>


Good morning!!  Just wanted to make sure that you're staying focused on what God says about healing!! 
This will be a new Chapter in your book about trusting in the Lord, regardless of circumstances!!
It's perfectly normal to be concerned or "Shocked" upon receiving a report like you did....BUT now it's your chance to "CHOOSE" to process it in a Faith based way!!
The "C" word is a scary thing; however, our God is much BIGGER than "it" and He will take care of you and heal your body...Remember what Believe stands for:  Because Emmanuel Lives I Expect Victory Every Time...............Please remember that!!
Also, here is something that I have said hundreds of times over the past 6 years:
I am SAVED
I am HEALED
I am DELIVERED
I am PROTECTED
I am SET FREE
IN JESUS' NAME!!!!!!
** The same spirit that raised Jesus from the grave lives and dwells within you!!!
AMEN!!!  YOU ARE HEALED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS!!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Skin cancer is "no big deal" UNTIL...

Skin cancer is "no big deal" UNTIL your Dad dies as a result of it, just ask Carol, OR your 22 year old nephew is diagnosed with stage 4 Melanoma skin cancer and it kills him at only 23 years old, just ask Cathy, OR it kills your dear friend who's in his 30's "with a lot of life before him," just ask Scotti or Brad, who's friend died a few years ago as a result of Melanoma skin cancer. 

Over 50% of adults think that skin cancer is "no big deal"; Kevin & I fell into that category UNTIL at 39 years old "I", someone's Daughter, Granddaughter, Wife, Mother, Sister, Niece, Aunt and Friend, was diagnosed with Clark's level 2 MALIGNANT MELANOMA Skin Cancer! 

Please do not let this DEADLY CANCER "hit home" before taking heed of this WARNING! 

Prevention &/or EARLY DETECTION can SAVE your life OR one of your loved one's life! 

Please click http://www.cancerresearch.org/resources/conquering-melanoma.html and read Conquering Melanoma: PREVENT IT, SPOT IT, TREAT IT and share my blog with others for the purpose of creating an awareness and saving lives! 

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"How" my cancer was detected

Kevin and I had heard of skin cancer, but we didn't know anything about it.  As I said in my initial post, over 50% of adults think that skin cancer is "no big deal" and we fell into that group.

HOW COULD WE BE SO NAIVE?!!!  WHY didn't we know about the seriousness of Melanoma skin cancer?  WHY, WHY, WHY?  Had we turned a deaf ear to it OR is it not common knowledge? 

Melanoma skin cancer is life threatening IF it is not caught early; EARLY DETECTION is critical, thus my desire to create an awareness regarding this deadly disease! 

Over the last year I had noticed an ugly "freckle" on my inner right calf, but I didn't know to be alarmed by it.  I was more concerned about the sun damage on my chest, so I had considered going to a dermatologist for cosmetic reasons; I had even scheduled 2 appointments that I canceled because it wasn't a priority to me.

Skin cancer had crossed my mind, but again, I didn't think it was "a big deal."  From what I could tell, the "ugly freckle" wasn't hurting me and the few "dry spots" on my chest and upper back weren't adversely affecting me either, so I felt it was a luxury rather than a necessity to visit a dermatologist; I didn't feel any sense of urgency whatsoever. 

Sophia, our 2nd daughter, may have very well saved my life!  When I was pregnant with Sophia, I had a pyrogenic granduloma to appear on the side of my nose; because it was on my face, I had to have it removed by a plastic surgeon. 

While examining my face, my plastic surgeon "happened" to look down at my leg and said, "I don't like what I see on your leg, we need to get that cut out immediately!" and within 48 hours she cut my "ugly freckle" out and sent it to pathology. 

I still didn't think a thing about it!  I actually thought, "Here we go!"  We've heard those stories about people getting addicted to plastic surgery, haven't we?  She had removed the pyrogenic granduloma from the side of my nose and I had her remove 2 other moles that were on my face and now this place on my leg, again, I was thinking, "Oh brother!"  That's how serious I took it! 

Come to find out, the "ugly freckle" on my leg was MALIGNANT MELANOMA, which is an invasive type of cancer; if not detected early, it can be deadly!

My cancer was "miraculously" detected just in the nick of time!  It takes my breath away to think that I was ONLY weeks or months away from being given a possible death sentence! 

This is serious business folks!  I beg you to ACT UPON this WARNING!  EARLY DETECTION can SAVE YOUR LIFE; please click the following link and join me in spreading the word for the purpose of saving lives!