The Black ribbon
What happened to McKennah? And How it may be important to you and your children. First this information is not intended to cause fearfulness in anyone.
2 tim 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of Fear but of Love, Peace and a sound mind. (NKJV)
Cancer awareness has adopted many ribbon colors; blue, yellow, pink, etcetera and then there is BLACK. Melanoma's ribbon color is black because of the low survival rate for those diagnosed with it, especially if it has spread from the origin site.
In 2017 McKennah was entering her senior year of high school she planned to play soccer so I took her for her usual sports physical with the local country doctor. The physical didn't require removing any clothing; this part was important because her origin site could have been easily missed. In her case it's difficult to say that missing the mole that day would have changed her journey in anyway, however, I need to say early detection is imperative. The doctor spotted a mole on McKennah's back just below her neck. I had not noticed it since it was under her hair and often covered by clothing. The doctor noticed the mole and after a quick examination stated that the mole fit several of the ABCDE's of skin cancer. You can look those up but it involves the shape, color and size. The physician was concerned and recommended it to be biopsied very soon. We had a regular dermatologist and I made an appointment. At the dermatology appointment the doctor agreed that the mole fit the criteria for removal and examination in a lab to determine if there were cancer cells present.
We were not really alarmed just wanted to do the right thing and follow protocol. Weeks went by and I was beginning to think there must have not been anything out of the ordinary. Then, finally the doctor called and said she regretted to inform me that the mole tested positive for melanoma. Not knowing anything about skin cancers my first thought was …. uh, fine we will have to make a new appointment and have it explained to see that’s next. BUT then she a word that made my heart sink and caused confusion and fear.. She said “You will need to call an Oncologist I can recommend a few”. Oncology is the where people who really have cancer go! Why would I need to make an appointment for a not yet 17 year old?
I was referred to Colorado University Hospital. We set up an appointment and prayed that this couldn’t possibly be serious and that it was just a few cells.
When it came time for the appointment I went with her and saw a well trained oncologist that specializes in melanoma. She examined the area on her back where the mole was removed and told us that she would need to under go a surgical procedure called a Wide Excision where the flesh around the original mole would be removed wide enough and deep enough to get all the affect area. But, first the doctor said she wanted to inject a contrast dye into the flesh around the incision then wait to see if the dye traveled from the surrounding skin through the lymphatic system and into her lymph nodes. This test should show if the cancer had spread. Ray took her and she had the dye in injected into her back then an MRI. The results were better than what I was imagining. They saw a small amount of spread into two small sentinel nodes in close proximity to the original mole. The worry was that the cancer cells may have traveled through her lymphatic system and was present in the larger lymph nodes in her neck or under her arm.
Based on these results her doctor informed us that she needed the wide excision and that the surgeon would need to make the cut longer and remove the nodes a few millimeters away from the where the biopsy was done. This resulted in a about a 4” scar. The removed lymph nodes were sent to the lab for testing. Our church and family prayed and we waited. When the results came back as I remember they said there was no cancer cells in the lymph nodes. McKennah was so excited, if now there was no cancer cells then all of the people’s prayers were Answered!
We were so relieved and praising God. McKennah didn’t play soccer that season but she had lots of senior year things to keep her busy. All this took place in early July when she was about to attend our churches summer boot camp, where she got the opportunity to share with all the kids at the camp how God answered our prayers.
Fast forward to May 2018 and McKennah just graduated from high school and we had a big party at our home in Bennett. We had a blast and may friends came from around the state. However, During this month McKennah began having severe back pain and headaches. I was a bit concerned but rationalized that her pain may have been from the very physical job she had. She worked at a hunting dog kennel and training facility. Scrubbing out kennels and cleaning up after a lot of dogs. But when I found out she was taking ibuprofen three times a day, I became very concerned. Two days later she woke up in the morning came downstairs complaining that she had no feeling in her jaw. Now, I was even more concerned. Ray was concerned as well and thought maybe she was suffering from jaw disorder like, TMJ. He made an appointment with our dentist in hopes of an answer. The dentist was puzzled by the numbness and suggested a night guard to prevent any grinding. The following night we all went to bed, but at about 1am McKennah came into our bedroom in tears saying she couldn't bare the pain anymore. I told her right there to pack a few things in a bag and prepare to go to the emergency room at Colorado University Hospital. We made the 30 minute trip into the city full of confusion not linking any of these symptoms to the mole previously removed.
The ER doctor ordered scans of her body and skull to determine what was causing the pain. The results of those scans changed our lives forever. This one night began a 3yr battle to kill cancer and heal our baby girls body. Scans that night confirmed that the mole she had 11 months earlier had now spread from her shoulder through out her entire body. Scans showed lesions(tumors) in her hip bone, liver, lungs, pelvis and her brain. We will never forget that moment we were told. How could a small mole after being removed spread melanoma cancer cells to so many places in her body.
We will never know the exact combinations of environmental or genetic circumstances that caused McKennah to develop one of the most deadliest cancers and hardest to treat. But looking back we can see some common traits which make melanoma more of a risk. You should ask yourselves these questions for your own skin health and especially your children's.
Do you currently have moles? Have you ever seen a new one? Has one changed?
Are you or your child fair skinned?
Does your child play an outdoor sport?
Are they experiencing Puberty?
Plus in McKennah's case. Do you live a mile high? Denver is not the only city a mile closer to the sun.
After McKennah's passing it took me at least a year before I could do any research on adolescent Melanoma. It didn't take long for me to find other young adults who battled this awful diagnosis. One such family affected by Stage 4 malignant melanoma is the family of the young lady in the picture below. Meet Claire Marie. In 2011 Claire was typical 14 yr old teen and then: a mole — one that had been on her ankle since the day she was born — suddenly looked “different.” Its removal was delayed by the plastic surgeon’s office. No worries, they said. “Kids don’t get melanoma.” They were wrong. Nearly four months later the call came: Our darling 14-year-old girl had malignant melanoma.
How did this happen? In short, she simply became a teenager. Hormonal changes, which routinely occur in puberty, prompted development of melanoma in our daughter; a risk we never knew was possible.
It's not difficult to see the similarities with McKennah's appearance. When I found her website I reached out to her mother right away. Be both connected about what a tragedy it was for our daughter's to lose their lives to such a malignant form of cancer. Then her mother told me about what she started to educate parents and adolescence about the risks. The risks are NOT small. This is from Stanford Medical Center.
Melanoma—the deadliest type of skin cancer—is the most common form of cancer among young adults ages 25-29, and second most common among ages 15-29.
Nether of these beautiful young ladies used tanning beds or spent more than the usual time in the sun for a person their age.
So here Is my blog post, the usual encouragement for lives journeys but a warning and some education that I would feel negligent to not share with the blogs followers. If you are a parent or a young adult I highly encourage you to read the Claire Marie Foundation website for more critical information about how you can prevent Melanoma.
The foundation's hashtag# is Live like Claire Marie
Also live like McKennah she had all the faith that GOD had a purpose in her journey and she used the 3 years God gave to spread LOVE and HOPE from the Colorado Children's Hospital to Vietnam and through this blog.
Also watch 16 yr old me https://youtu.be/_4jgUcxMezM
Thank you for another post, Mrs.Carter! Reading this was heart breaking but informative, and I appreciate you calling awareness to such a dangerous cancer.