*******************5-5-5: FIVE days of the FIFTH month, celebrating FIVE years!********************** What you ask? ... May 1-5, my father Mike and I, will be walking from our home 'Camp Kaywoodie' in Napa to my oncologist's office San Francisco (about 70 miles). Our adventure will mark the fifth anniversary of my diagnosis with stage IV melanoma and will celebrate a huge milestone---the gift of once again living life cancer free!+++++++++ Symbolically, we are walking the route traveled so many times, both in sickness and now, in great health. We will begin in Napa on May 1st, walk to Sonoma for our first night, then on to Novato for night number two. Our third night will be in San Rafael, and a fourth in the Marin Headlands. On Monday May 5th (nationally recognized as "Melanoma Monday'), we will walk across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco, over Pacific Heights and to California Pacific Medical Center to deliver a bottle of bubbly to Dr. David Minor, my oncologist.+++++++++++ This wacky personal quest to mark and put a chapter of my life to rest is also a feat that I hope will help raise much needed awareness and funds for melanoma research and education. Melanoma is a monster. Melanoma diagnosis rates are growing at astounding rates and especially in women under 40. Melanoma is one of the easiest cancers to cure if caught early and among the least likely to survive if caught late. And, consistent, successful, well-tolerated treatment for late stage melanoma is yet to be discovered. But most important, melanoma is likely preventable with good sun safety habits learned and practiced early in life!+++++++++++ Winning a battle against cancer is not a victory that comes because of the efforts of one person---there is a team involved. In my case, it has been an amazing team of family, friends old and new, doctors, medical personnel and some people that I never even met firsthand. My experience has introduced me to a world of dedicated people and organizations like Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) that are out there on the forefront spreading the word about sun safety, supporting and advocating for those with melanoma and searching for new treatments. When I decided to take this walk, it was my hope to find a way to assist with this important work.++++++++++ It is my hope that the long journey of the last five years and our long journey of the first five days of this May, will make a difference in the life of some other person, sadly diagnosed with advanced melanoma, in the future. Or better yet, that it will help prevent that person from getting melanoma at all!+++++++++++ Many thanks for your support---you are part of that amazing team that has supported and carried me and my family through this chapter!