Outpacing Melanoma 5K

In 2014 John went to the dermatologist for a strange mole on his upper right arm.  The biopsy revealed he had melanoma.  He had Mohs surgery to remove the lesion and it came back clear with only a 3% chance of it returning.  We felt pretty confident it was over.  John went every three months over the next 4 years for regular checkups with the dermatologist and nothing out of the ordinary was found.  In 2018, he took the boys to Steamboat right after Christmas for a ski trip.  He wanted to take one last run down the hill before they had to catch their flight home.  He got off the ski lift at the top with our young sons and fell over in horrible pain.  His femur broke. We all thought it was a freak accident involving tangled skis. He went into surgery and they placed a metal rod in his leg.  He returned back home and started to fall ill very quickly.  We didn't know if it was infection from the surgery or something else.  Unfortunately I will never forget the day they revealed his scans and told us he had cancer.  The melanoma had returned with no warning and was stage 4 in his bones and lungs.  He left that Christmas seemingly a healthy man and returned a week later in grave danger.  John fought very hard to stay with us over the next year through medication, surgeries and rehabilitation but his very aggressive cancer type found its way into his brain.  One year later, he left our home for the last time the morning before Christmas Eve and passed into Heaven, January 6th, 2020. I am so proud of how resilient our boys have been and what wonderful, honorable young men they have turned out to be.  John gave them a solid foundation and left them with a precious gift that cannot be shaken, that is their tremendous faith in God.  John would be SO proud of them!  We honor his fight and memory every year by supporting other patients and families through Outpacing Melanoma.