Timeline from first diagnosis through my time in Bend, OR

September, 2003: First melanoma discovered, a large one on the top of my scalp. It had been hidden by my hair for a long time probably. It was removed by plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Reilly only a week later. Because they had to have 2cm of clear margin around it I ended up with 50 staples across my scalp to sew it up. Heck, I practically got a face lift out of the deal. It was larger than a quarter but mostly less than 1mm thick, so subsequent advice suggested I had a 95% chance of no further recurrence.
August, 2006: Well, so much for the 95% thing. Shortly after Claire and I had decided to break up we discovered a second melanoma, a couple of inches below the first. Surgery at the University of Miami Hospital later shows that this one is over 6mm deep, so I get re-classified to stage IIIc. Naturally I asked the question: how much time do I have? The answer was 75% of stage IIIc patients die within 5 years of diagnosis.
October, 2006: small melanoma discovered and removed from margins of surgery in an outpatient procedure. Start doing Leukine, an immunotherapy injectible, 14 days on and 14 days off. Stay on it for 6 months until the next tumor is found.....
March, 2007: Even though a PET scan (they inject you with a radioactive glucose solution and then scan you. Cancer cell have a more aggressive uptake of the solution so they literally glow in the scan, making it easy to see tumors) had been clear a month prior, an regular exam shows a swollen lymph node in my neck. During surgery they find melanoma infected lymph nodes have completely encircled one of the major neck muscles (sternocleidomastiod) so they remove it, 23 nodes and the left jugular vein. 8 nodes subsequently test positive for metastatic melanoma (which I will refer to as MM from now on).
May 2007: I decide to move to Bend, Oregon. I'd been sales manager for Rado watches in the Southeast for 10 years and in the Caribbean for a year. But I wanted to be nearer my daughters, Amy and Andrea, in Seattle. Claire was settled in her new place. And I could retire from Swatch Group with full insurance coverage. So I retired, sold the house in Hollywood, FL, packed up and moved to Bend, Oregon in September. Turns out my timing was perfect in just about every way, because the economy immediately tanked.
November, 2007: Welcome to Bend, you have to have more surgery. I could feel a bump in my neck on the drive from Miami to Bend, so got a new oncologist right away after I got settled in. Had 9 more lymph nodes removed, one tests positive for MM.
March, 2008: Bend is a really cool place and I'm doing lots of fly fishing. Have to interrupt my fun for more surgery when a PET scan glows. This time it's the parotid gland (the saliva gland) on the left side.
July, 2008: We find and remove a tumor in the old scar tissue from a prior surgery.
November 2008: We reach a turning point at the discovery of a tumor in the joint of my left jaw. Surgery not a reasonable option, so time to reconsider my options......