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- Birth: Mar. 21, 1963 New York, USA
Death: Mar. 30, 2000 New York, USA
On Thursday March 30, 2000 Brenda lost her battle with melanoma skin cancer at age 37.
Melanoma is the most serious cancer of the skin. According to the Melanoma Research Foundation in Lake Forest, CA, one human being dies every hour of every day of the year, in the United States, of melanoma skin cancer. Melanoma strikes people of all ages, all races, all economic levels and both sexes. It is already the most common cancer for women 25 to 29 and the second most common cancer for women 30 to 34. Melanoma is increasing faster than any other cancer. Children born today have a four to five times greater risk of developing melanoma in their lifetimes than their parents have.
Brenda was first diagnosed with malignant melanoma in January 1995. She had a large mole on her back that turned black and began bleeding. It was removed with clear margins all the way around. Her lymph nodes were also clear.
Due to the lack of knowledge of what melanoma skin cancer is all about, Brenda and her family were not overly concerned about her future. She made regular routine visits to her doctors and had several other moles removed that were non-malignant. Life went on as normal except Brenda now avoided the sun, wore large hats, sunscreen and more protective clothing. Still the seriousness of the cancer did not set in with the family as they continued to enjoy sun-filled activities.
October 1999 would change all that. Brenda found a small lump that appeared on her back. It was the size of a marble and blue in color. She met with her surgeon who planned to remove the lump. Surgery was scheduled for November 23 and three more lumps appeared before the surgery. The results came back as malignant melanoma stage IV. It turns out that the blue was actually bleeding under the skin. Immediate cat scans were done which revealed the cancer had metastasized to her lungs, liver and brain.
Brenda was given only "months" to live. She had chosen to take no treatments and felt she would rather spend her last few months having a better quality of life. She knew how sick interferon and radiation could make her and their rate of working was minimal at best. Good nutrition, a positive attitude toward healing and a strong faith were her treatments.
On February 9th, 2000 Brenda returned for another cat scan. The results showed the brain tumor was increasing and she was given only a couple more weeks to live. The tumor grew quickly as it does with melanoma and Brenda passed away seven weeks later.
Beth is sharing this story with you for several reasons. First, she wishes to honor the memory of her sister and also to pass along her sister's wish that others learn about melanoma. In addition, Beth lost a step-sister two months later to colon cancer, not to mention several family friends that also passed away that year.
"Life is to short to not live it to it's fullest. Spend every day doing something you enjoy and tell the special people in your life how much they mean to you," sister Beth.
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1963 - 2000 (37 years)