Ann Davis Tuton writes:

Subject: I Am a Survivor

I have not written anything here in a long time for nothing has interested me until I just saw this article.

I am a 5th stage survivor of Melanoma and I was told in 1985 that I had 2 years to live, they never found the mother source, I never was sick, I was put in the hospital for food poisoning and for over 9 months prior to that I had been having a pain in my right groin for about 9 months. This I thought was due to my job. For I only weight about 125 and ran a warehouse, full of carpet, drove a hyster, tug on the rolls of carpet everyday, climbed the bins, tag the rolls, kept up with each roll we cut off of and made sure that it was bin back in the right place are had to make changes of the new location. I was in charge of the inventory, the shipping and receiving of all the carpet. A lot for a mother of 4 children of the ages of 9-5 so in May I got sick, and was put in the hospital for eating tuna fish that night and I was the only one that ate it so we knew it was food poisoning. Well they kept me from Sunday to Friday and on Friday morning they came in and told me he was going to let me go home on Saturday morning after one more day of the I.V. antibiotics. That was great I was finally going home and back to work I really love my job, it kept me busy and the pay for then was better than my husbands. Well I got up to shower and one of those pains hit, and this time no way of getting up, I had to pull that string in the shower you know; the one that sounds off that like the whole place is on fire. Yes that one! Well it just so happens my Dr. Lumpkin was still on the floor and they called him back in my room. He felt of the lump I found in my groin at the time, and said nothing to worry about. Yeah right , but we are going to remove it on Monday just to see what it is. They did, and they told me it was most likely a cyst.

Well were they ever wrong, the next day there were Drs. in my room with cameras everywhere. Yet my Dr. had not come in to see me yet and I had no clue what was going on and these guys weren't saying anything. Then there was this Knock at my door, kind of like in the movies now, to me. The look on Dr. Lumpkin's face was not a pretty site not that he was pretty anyway.

I got the news he had to go back in and it would be on Monday the 14th of May, I was to stay there on antibiotics until then and make sure no more infections took over and he said that he did not think it was going to be bad that he thought they got it all the first time but had to check for safety reasons. Well you know I never heard the word Melanoma and just took it as a grain of salt. Not my mom and dad when they heard, are the people were I work, for an employee's son just died from it. He got it and was gone in less than 6 months.

On the 14th of May they took me back and told everyone that I be back in about 2 hours counting the time in recovery, hey were they liars, it took them 8 hours, before I was out of there. Then the next day I was told my not only my Dr. but another one they called in that I was given at the most 2 years. This was my oldest child's Birthday May the 15th she turn 10 that day. I look at all four of my children and knew then I was going to live. For the higher power is much better than the Drs. and my will was with him, my life was not easy, I went to so many Drs. and other hospitals to make sure they were right and yes they were. I was even told that I would not live 2 years to make plans now. I told them no God had told me I had things to do here and he was not ready for me. I was right, I am still here and I have 5 grand children now and was in the room when my daughter had her first baby. I held that child first and handed her to her mom, my daughter with tears running down my face and kiss my grand child, and my daughter and told her the circle of life is just now starting for us.

What has my life been like we have had joy, sadness, I had so many infections that I lost my leg, in 1998 due to the infections, and could not find a leg to fit me until now. Finally they invented a liner that would work for a person with lymph nodes missing that did not cause you to have the skin pulled on are the skin suck on. It is called the Iceross liner from Ossur. I am so glad that God gave me the chance to find them and the gift to wear it and now I am learning to walk again on the highest tech leg out there made by them also. The Rheo Knee, and would I change my life, I would change maybe a few things but not my children are grandchildren, for they are my hero's and my love, my strength.

Yet this is what they say about me. Ann Davis Tuton 10-13-2006