Welcome to my first post with the goal of helping you improve your best of health. My name is Barb and I’ve been a PA for 23 years. I work in family practice and during these challenging times of Covid doing more telemedicine than anything for now. Today is Memorial Day  and we honor those that served and gave their lives to keep our country free.

I work in family practice and during these challenging times of Covid I am doing a lot more telemedicine for now. I love seeing patients in the office. Bringing that back to the norm will wait for now.

May is also Melanoma awareness month and in future blogs I am going to share with  you  my story.  For today I want to just talk about the importance of making sure you’re aware of your skin. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be a melanoma patient.

I was diagnosed over two years ago with stage III B nodular melanoma. It wasn’t a black and irregular lesion, it was pink and raised. It wasn’t typical looking, but it was melanoma.

I want to honor those have died from melanoma and give you a few facts today.1.Melanoma is now the number one cancer and females in their 20s.
2.If you ever used a tanning bed  you have a 75% greater chance of getting melanoma or some sort of skin cancer in your lifetime. 3. Melanoma is tricky and it can hide. Don’t think its only found on your skin but can be found anywhere in your body for example eyes and mouth.
4.The most likely cause of melanoma is sun exposure however there is a genetic code and predisposition for melanoma as well.
5.Did You know Bob Marley died of Melanoma? 

Please please please wear sunscreens, avoid the sun during the most intense time of the day.  If you see a new mole and it just looks strange and evolving...please when in doubt,  out check it out.

I’m one of the lucky ones that even though my melanoma was found in my lymph nodes with therapy specifically, immunotherapy, my scans are now clean at least for now I have no evidence of melanoma.

I promise you that if you follow my blog you’re gonna learn a lot. It’s all about sharing knowledge and empowering for better healthcare experiences. 

Today I will take time to reflect again on those that made the ultimate sacrifice for us. On this Memorial Day I will also reflect on loss is a family, friend, previous patients my fellow cancer warriors and those that have passed and fighting COVID.

Tomorrow, a little bit more about me and an update on COVID 19. Straight talk from a professional he talks daily to people on the front lines.

I promise they’ll be a lot of information on this blog that is useful and provide some humor along the way.  I also promise that if you comment and have specific questions I will answer them.

You’ll soon find out that this blog is really about you and what we can do together for better Health.

Thanks for your time, 

Barb