Toast to another GREAT year

Given that the Mayan calender prediction of the worlds demise doesn't come to be a reality in a couple of weeks. I would have to say in my 27 years, 2012 will go down as one of my favorites. Yea 2003 was great and who can forget 96, classic. But through my personal experience my favorite would have to be 2012. In no way am I complacent, but just truly grateful. Happy holidays to everyone! Here's to HEALTH, WEALTH, and, HAPPINESS.

MERRY XMAS FROM THE GAINES'



Octoberfest

October is here and there is much to celebrate!:

Dawgs are 5-0
Braves locked up wildcard
Falcons are 4-0
Columbus Day
Leaves
Raking Leaves
Leif Erikson Day (the real discoverer of the new world)
Pumpkin flavored stuff
Halloween
Adam Strong Bday
The CornTastle

Oh and these things as well:

-Annie Kate Gaines will turn 1 month old on 10-4-12.
-MelaNoMo'! is 10-20-12
-Just over a year of No Evidence of Disease.

MelaNoMo'! is right around the corner and I hope that everyone can make it up. I have been knee deep in diapers and no sleep so I am looking forward to celebrating this great month of October with all of our close friends and family.  We are teaming up with Winship Cancer Center this year to help contribute to Dr. Lawson and his medical staff to fund more clinical trials for melanoma that would be available on a local level. We contribute being "NED" to the great staff at Emory University and are happy to contribute to this great melanoma research group. 
Also MelaNoMo'! is a tribute to all of those people that supported us through thoughts and prayers and got us to where we are today(a healthy but exhausted family). We can't thank you enough, but we can start by getting you an afternoon buzz, eating BBQ, watching college football, and listening to some bluegrass music outdoors around a fire by the Chattahoochee River on an October afternoon.
Look forward to seeing you there, 10-20-12. more info @ www.melanomo.org

Save the Date 10-20-12

My scans were clear in June and MelaNoMo'! date is scheduled for Oct 20th!!!! Hope all have a great 4th of July/hump day.


Sun safety tips courtesy of www.theonion.com. Disclaimer: for any of the baby boomers generation this is a joke. Enjoy:

Sun Safety Tips

When summer rolls around, everybody wants that perfect tan--but it's important to play it smart. Here are some tips for safe, sensible tanning:

• Block out harmful UV rays with giant magnifying glass
• Always sit at least 100 yards from sun
• When applying sunscreen, get children on the beach to help with those hard-to-reach spots
• UV rays can damage the corneas; don't forget to rub a good sunscreen into your eyes
• Risk of sunburn is especially high while swimming; strap on a thick lead suit before entering water
• Instead of using our sun, sunbathe using safer, more distant star like Beta-Sirius
• When tanning, always alternate who's on top
• Avoid harmful UV rays; live underground until your descendants evolve into eyeless, albino mole people
• Before going outside, check sun's strength by placing test baby in driveway for 1/2 hour
• Stabbings, while tanning or not, are very dangerous—avoid them
• For those raised in a red-sun environment, yellow sun may cause superpowers; use only for good
• Tanning is safest when done in short spurts; disrobe for just a couple of seconds every few blocks while walking through town
• Allow thick, protective melanoma to grow all over skin
• Avoid suntanning on inner planets like Mercury and Venus
• Coat body in "seagull-nip"; wait for protective coat of seagulls to cover body

Baby G!

The last blog entry was on March 4 and I was having scans and finding out if I was having a boy or a girl. So...clear scans and girl!!!! Yes sir.
Baby Gaines is about halfway done brewing, our due date is ironically Labor Day. There are usaully 3 questions people ask, "Are you excited?", "Do you know the sex?", "Have you thought of names?". I am so excited that we are having a girl and we have some names picked out but will not surface until she does. Marge is doing such a great job!!

We don't have a date in the books yet for MelaNoMo'! 2k12 but it might be the debut for Baby Gaines. It will be in late September or October.  She told me that it better be the best one yet since it will be her first MelaNoMo'! So let's make that happen. Check out the link from the MRF website talking about last years event.
http://www.melanoma.org/learn-more/third-annual-melanomo-fundraiser-raises-over-30000-melanoma-research.

Busy week?

Alright, it's Sunday March 4, 2012. First day of the week that will be one for the record books. Tuesday, I am having follow up scans and blood work. I am ready and confident for this appt and can get excited to go see my oncologist because I can get the reassurance that everything is still looking NEDtastic. (No Evidence of Disease). I have no new lumps or bumps to be concerned about.
Now, I can not say the same thing for Mrs. Gaines. Wednesday we will be at a different doctor where Margaret is going to be the patient. She is the one with the bump now, but it is a good bump and it's growing inside her stomach.  Wednesday we will hopefully find out if we are having a boy or a girl. There is a baby Gaines on the way!!

Alright, Sunday has been circled on our calender for weeks and we finally meet. The calender week page is inked up with blue and black. It is full of times, places, highlighted days, exclamations, and question marks. We are excited and anxious to meet this head on and turn the page to another week of life.

So on this Sunday send us some thoughts and prayers for a good strong healthy week.

this year I will....

Happy belated holidays from Diet Cancer.
2012 is finally here and I know it's a going to be a great year. We ended on a high note in December and want to carry the momentum forward.  There's a lot of good things happening this year so lets live it up, I mean if the Apocalypse is really coming in December we have to go out on a high note. Don't hold back, just wear sunscreen.
 It's official MelaNoMo'! INC. is now a non profit company. We are  up and running and wanted to thank Gary Arnold,  the Caswell family, Milner family, and also the  Owings brothers at the Ozone Sports Institute to be the first contributors to MelaNoMo INC. We have laid a great foundation and plan to expand this year beyond our annual BBQ, to have a kayak race, pub crawl, and more. It's a whole lot more fun to raise money doing something you enjoy (eat,drink,kayak).   The website is under construction, but will be up shortly where there will be pictures, videos, posts, and other melanoma survivors testimonials. It is melanomo.org and we expect it to be running in February.
 I'm sort of a procrastinator so I set my new years resolution starting February 1st. Anyway it's just amateur hour at the gym so I'll let them thin out and then I will be back getting into that new years shape.
Also it's is very important to pay attention to the blog and website in the near future to what MelaNoMo'! will have to offer later in the year. It is going to be groundbreaking and will definitely add that "winning touch" to melanoma awareness and prevention.

Here's a tribute to all who have attended our fundraisers over the past 3 years, watch, enjoy, and judge.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcHR3fZhwB4