Heathers Dreams

Please join us in a celebrations in Honor of Heather Lee Micklos Larson on Sunday April 28th 2019 at The Village Tavern 424 S Main St Wabash, PA  15220

2-8 P.M. 

As many of you know Heather has been diagnosed with melanoma, We’re raising funds to make many of her dreams come true.  The party is a surprise and under  the pretense of a Crystal on Penn reunion. 

Below you will find Heathers story about her journey and battle. If you can’t make the party please send a prayer / positive thoughts and good vibes her way.  Donations are being accepted at Two Louies Market at 1233 Penn Ave or through a gofund me Acct. 

Heathers Story 

..I’ve been avoiding making this public because firstly, I truly didn’t want to upset anyone. I’m not posting this for sympathy, I’m not posting this for attention. But I also feel that some of you deserve to know, and you probably would have been pissed if I didn’t say anything. There is really no easy way to say this and I hope none of you feel slighted and hurt that I haven’t reached out to you individually, but this has been a lot to take in and process. 

I have cancer. Melanoma. And it’s bad.

Please don’t worry about me. I have a friggin’ ARMY behind me. I have people that fight beside me EVERY SINGLE day, and the days I can’t fight, they carry me. I am beyond blessed. I’m okay.

Just a little background, as I’m sure many of you are curious. I had a sore on the back of my head that I thought was a tick bite. I finally went to the dermatologist in October of 2018, embarrassed, and said I think there is part of a tick stuck in my head? As soon as I flipped my hair over she sucked her breath in and said “Oh . . that’s not a tick bite.” One week later I had surgery to remove the lesion and found out it was “aggressive” melanoma. On December 19th they took 13 lymph nodes out of my right neck, and one week later I went back in and they took 38 from my left neck. 5 were positive, and I was deemed “Stage IIID superficial spreading melanoma”. Yeah . .I didn’t know there was a “D” either! They put me on a drug called Opdivo which I got in monthly infusions, and we thought everything was going to be okay. Well, the Opdivo side effects sucked (fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, severe joint pain) but hey, when you have cancer, suck becomes the new normal. In February I had a horrid pain in my back, and a very smart PA said “Go to the ER right now, we can’t wait until your next set of scans”. Good call, because the CT from the ER showed cancer in my lungs. Subsequent scans show that it is now . . are you ready for this? It is now in my: brain, every bone of my spine, neck, lymph nodes, lungs, ribs, liver, spleen, abdominal wall and pelvis. Boom! Go big or go home, right?! So now I’m “Stage 4 metastatic”. I had 2 “cyberknife” treatments to knock down the ones in my noggin (18 total!), and multiple radiation zaps to my spine – the radiation oncology department at Hillman is awesome and keeping me walking and talking. At least now I have an excuse for all the stupid stuff I do and say! The cancer caused a compression fracture in my spine which hurts a lot. I am also on drugs called Braftovi and Mektovi (which have their own icky side effects but I’ll deal with it). We hope these will work for a time. If not . . we hope there are other options. I’ve been given a grim prognosis but for now, I just keep swimming. Just keep swimming . . 

I have given a lot of thought to how can my situation be beneficial to others? The first thing I thought of was awareness. So I’m going to throw some things at you guys, and honestly, I hope it scares you a little bit. I hope it scares you enough to take some action. 

1) Melanoma is incredibly survivable if caught early. Good. We know this. So if you don’t have one, begin a relationship with a dermatologist. If something looks weird, GET IT CHECKED. My melanoma hid in my hair (yes, in my massive hair), on the back of my scalp. I couldn’t see it and I didn’t realize it was something serious until it was too late for me - it had spread. If you have a spot that looks strange, if you have something change, or if you have something that won’t heal GET IT CHECKED. Melanoma is not just black, it can be any color. Get the nail polish off your toes, and watch for dark marks beneath the nails. When melanoma spreads you are screwed. Melanoma is an asshole - there is no cure, there are only brief periods of time where it isn’t active, but it’s going to come back. It always does. Look at yourself, look at your partner. And if something looks funky . . GET. IT. CHECKED. 

2) If you yourself use, or let your children use a tanning bed, you are a friggin MORON. Stop it. Now. Also use sunscreen. Sunburns are what did this to me. Don’t be foolish and let it happen to you over the vanity of a tan. Watch the sun/UV damage.

3) Melanoma can be ocular. Make an appointment with an eye doctor if you haven’t been to one in a while.

4) Melanoma can be mucosal. A guy in line for surgery before me thought he had a hemmaroid that wouldn’t heal. A woman who got a CT before me was post-menopausal and all of a sudden had vaginal bleeding. Both had mucosal melanoma. Get to your PCP or get to your gynecologist on a regular basis. 

Now, the second thing I want to accomplish with this post . . I don’t want ANY COMMENTS EXCEPT FOR WHAT I’M GOING TO ASK YOU FOR NOW.

Life, is too short. We always say “One day I’m gonna . . ” or “I really need to see my friend” or “I would love to visit . . ”. 

I want you to do it. Whatever IT is, I want you guys to do IT. For me. Take a second . . and think of that thing you’ve been talking about or dreaming about for years. I want you to post it in the comments below. 

I want you guys to read each other’s posts. And if any of you have any experience with, or know someone who can help with anyone’s wishes, please post or contact that person. Help yourself. Help others. Make a plan. And just DO IT. Please, do it . . don’t wait. You owe that to yourselves. 

If someone posts “I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland” and you have information on a trip like that, contact them. Someone says “I’ve always wanted to brew my own wine” and you know how, contact them. 

Make a statement. Make that statement come true for yourself. Help if you can make a statement come true for others. That is ALL I WANT in the comments below, nothing more.

I love you guys. I’m still swimming . . . Now, let’s do something fun, for ourselves. Because life is too short.