Nancy Stansell's Kik Cancer Campaign

Thank you for reading my Gofundme site. For those of you who don't know me, I've been married for 16 wonderful years to an amazing man, my soul mate, Rich. I have 4 beautiful step-children in their 20s, a 10 year old handsome son, and a 4 year old stinkin' cute grandson. I've been a Physical Therapist Assistant for a little over 20 years now, and I continue to perform my job with love & compassion for each one of my patients. This is my story.....I noticed a mole changing and growing earlier this summer so I brought it to my doctor's attention when I was scheduled to see him. I was referred to a Dermatologist who performed a couple of biopsies of this mole and was informed that it may be malignant, but I remained positive and hopeful. When I returned to the Dermatologist's office, my worst fear was confirmed.....I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. " How can this happen to me?! ", is what I was thinking. Luckily my husband was with me & was able to keep a level head & ask appropriate questions. We were told that I have the "best" kind of melanoma, if I was going to have it at all. I was scheduled for surgery for a week later, to have the entire mole removed from the top of my shoulder. 4 inner stitches and about 22 outer stitches later, I was finally rid of this problematic mole. I was out of work for 10 days, as just hanging my arm at my side was quite painful. I realized quickly how some of my patients feel & came to the conclusion that I will NEED help from others. This is not how I live....I live my life helping OTHERS. And so I had to learn to do things one-handed and also had to learn how to slow down and rest, so that I could heal. This chunk of skin, removed during surgery, was also sent out for biopsy. About a week after surgery, I received a phone call from the doctor from my Dermatologist's office with more dire news.....the biopsy revealed that the melanoma is deeper than originally thought. (Too bad it wasn't a part of the skin that was removed during the first biopsy; it would've been caught sooner.) I was referred to the Moffitt Cancer Center for follow up care, and had an appointment there a little over a week later. Meanwhile, I had the stitches removed from my incision and I'm loving the feeling of being "stitch free"! My husband and I arrived at my appointment at the Moffitt Cancer Center on August 22nd. I couldn't believe I was here..... as a patient. Tears welled up in my eyes and I was scared, but I swallowed hard and told myself, " You can do this. Let's do it and get it over with. " We checked in and waited....and waited. This just made the butterflies in my stomach worse. I met with the Physician's Assistant first and she collected information about me & proceeded to tell me something about a surgery. Whoa! I told her I had already had surgery & that I was here for a "follow up" visit. Little did I know, it was sooooo much more than that. The Surgeon arrived & informed my husband & I that I would require more surgery due to the depth of the melanoma. A wider incision ( 1 cm on either side of my scar) will be performed around my current scar & I will require nuclear medicine injected into the mole sight to see where this section of skin drains fluid, because the first lymph node it drains to will have to be removed....and it may be 1 or 2 lymph nodes removed. After the surgeon squeezed & tried stretching the skin around my scar, he tells me I may also require a skin graft because the skin across the top of my shoulder may be too tight to close up. I was completely blown away by all of this. I thought it was only a follow up visit. I couldn't digest all of this information & became very emotional, discouraged & frustrated. I've been trying to rationalize everything & have come to realize I can't rationalize with a deadly form of cancer. I HAVE to have this surgery if I'm ever going to live worry & cancer free. I WANT to have this surgery because I want to live to see all of my children & grandson (and maybe more grandchildren) grow up, graduate, get married, and have children of their own. I want to grow "old" with my husband. I want to remain active & healthy as I've done for years. With my upcoming surgery (within next 2 1/2 weeks), I will require nuclear medicine, diagnostic testing, IV insertion, anesthesia, surgery, and nursing care in the recovery room before I'm sent home. Even though this is very difficult for me, I'm asking for any amount of donations to help cover the medical costs & possibly living expenses, if I have to be out of work for another 10 days.....or more, if I need a skin graft. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your interest in this chapter of my life. It's tough times like this that stretch our minds & thoughts so that we grow to become stronger & wiser. I'm looking forward to this personal growth & maybe I can help someone in the future who will be going through something similar. Thank you in advance for your hope, positive thoughts, prayers & contributions. God bless you!