Nicaragua Travel Tips and Visiting Granada

I just had one of the best trips of my entire life to a place you may have never heard about- San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. My sister and her husband are avid surfers and knew they wanted a destination wedding. When a friend suggested the small surf town on the west coast of this stunning Central American developing country they agreed that it was just what they were looking for. They ended up getting nearly 60 friends and family members to come out and celebrate with them! I stayed for about a week and I want to break this up into a few posts starting with this one with tips and tricks. Here’s a photo of the dreamy couple:

Before You Go to Nicaragua

Continue reading “Nicaragua Travel Tips and Visiting Granada”

I Didn’t Think I Would Get Skin Cancer Either

Growing up in Florida and now living in Los Angeles I see a whole lot of sunshine. When I was younger I loved to lay out and bake. I wanted to be as tan as my fair skin would let me so I’d slather myself with oil and stay by the pool all day or go to the tanning beds occasionally. I knew it would all catch up with me eventually, but I didn’t think eventually would be at age 27.

There I was in stirrups at my annual gynecological exam (as if that day couldn’t get any worse) when my doctor. points to a mole over my heart and says “You need to see a Dermatologist about that. If I could take it off right this minute I would.” “Great” I thought, “yet another doctor’s appointment to schedule.” Luckily I was motivated by the fact that it was the end of the year and I had already met my high deductible so I went to see my dermatologist (who I was already getting annual skin cancer checks from) to get the mole biopsied.

When the biopsy came back unfortunately the results showed that it was Melanoma. This meant I had to go back and get it removed along with some of the healthy skin around it to ensure the entire thing was gone and would not spread.

This is right after my cancerous mole was removed.
This is right after my melanoma (skin cancer) mole was removed in January 2014

It was a pretty small mole and now I have a huge scar I get to look at everyday. Here’s what it looks like today, 16 months later: Continue reading “I Didn’t Think I Would Get Skin Cancer Either”