I was diagnosed with Stage o Melanoma on April 16, 2021! A day I will always remember… I remember feeling scared and worried about what was to come next! In the following days, I was contacted by U of M doctors to set up multiple appointments over the next few weeks! Surgery got scheduled for May 7, 2021! The morning of surgery I had a dye test done to make sure the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes! From there I went right to the surgery center where I had to wait for what felt like was an eternity! After surgery, I remember waking up feeling very sore! I was packed on ice and I couldn’t move my arms well. They had taken lymph nodes from under each arm. Fast forward to what I thought was going to be a few weeks recovery turned into 6 weeks! As a massage therapist for 15 years I was unable to do my job which was extremely hard for me since my work is my whole world! I also wasn’t able to go to the gym and train with my trainer, also very hard! I’m a very active mom of two beautiful kids ages 7 and 9 so not being able to do things with them was very hard as well! I’m happy to say that I’m back to work and slowly getting back to life as I know it. I just want to bring awareness to melanoma and getting checked out even if you think it’s nothing. Mine was a mole smaller than a dime in the middle of my upper back. A mole that’s been there since I was a kid. Things started to change and I knew I had to get it checked out I’m just glad I went and didn’t wait! This could have been much worse!

Kelly Farver
Age 39
Stage 0
Date Diagnosed: 04/16/2021
St. Clair, MI