Introduction

The "Hotel Melanoma" moniker is a metaphor for living with my particular brand of cancer. Except for those lucky few of us deemed "cured", all we cancer survivors are guests of one of the many, many branded hotels in the "Hotel Carcinoma" chain. We can check out any time we like, but we can never leave. Meanwhile, let's be livin' it up; and please support cancer education, prevention, and treatment research.



Tutu Brothers

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Night Moves



Attention all Colorado melahomies! Please join me and make your best ‘night moves’ at this upcoming Melanoma Awareness Month event, which benefits Colorado Melanoma Foundation, Inc. The Melanoma Night Walk is in memory of Justin Vicory, a 35-year-old husband and father who was taken by melanoma last fall. It’s an event that Justin had started to plan prior to his death, and his widow DeeDee is now carrying on with his wishes to raise funds for melanoma education, prevention, early detection, and treatment research.

Still wishing I’d done a lot more of my outdoor work and recreation at night rather than in the mid-day sun sans sunscreen, I’ll sign off with The Hotel Melanoma rendition of Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”…



I was a little too ‘Sol’d’
Could've losed a few browns
Write rant posts, hardly renowned
C was my back bared booty with big dark fries
Tanned joints all my own getting way up fried
Way up burned and fried

Out past the sun’s yield when the night gets heady
Outin’ the Black Beast with my nifty bevy
Workin' on mysteries without any clues
Workin' on our night moves
Trying' to make some front page Night Walk news
Workin' on our night moves in the summertime
In the sweet summertime

We aren’t rid of, oh no far from it
We aren’t searching for some pie in the sky summit
He was just young and precious and soared
Living by the Lord
And we'll heal this craze, there’s a chance we could
Fill the vacuum, let’s rally, do justly good
We need cure, C bruised we
Cuz everyone cares
We want mela be rare

Workin' on our night moves
Trying to lose the awkward teenage hues
Workin' on out night moves
In the summertime
And oh the wonder
Felt the fright thing
And we waited on the wonder
Waited on the wonder

I hoped last night for a round of funders
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

Night moves!

Monday, April 13, 2015

I Wanna Be Sedated

I don’t know about you, but there have been quite a few times during my extended stay at The Hotel Melanoma when I’ve had a strong desire for heavy sedation. Like all the times when I got the high fever shakes so bad during biochemotherapy treatments that kind nurses knocked me out with a nice shot of Demerol into my PICC line, thank you very much. And on the occasion of the first MRI scan of my brain when I took an accidental overdose of Ativan to counter my extreme claustrophobia—a mistake my dear wife will likely never forget or completely forgive. And last, but not least, during the seemingly interminable waits to receive scan results or pathology reports.

With gratitude that I’ve no need of pharmaceutical assistance to get me through this lovely spring day in the Rockies, I’ll sign off with The Hotel Melanoma Rendition of “I Wanna Be Sedated” from The Ramones…



Plenty plenty plenty more hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, nowhere to go oh,
I wanna be sedated

Just get me doctor’s report, ease my worried strain
Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane
I can't control my rigors, I can't control my pain
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Plenty plenty plenty more hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, nowhere to go oh,
I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair, find the friggin’ vein
Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane
I can't control my rigors, I can't control my brain
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Plenty plenty plenty more hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, nowhere to go oh,
I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair, get me through the slow
Hurry hurry hurry, before I go loco
I can't control my rigors, I can't control my glows
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Plenty plenty plenty more hours to go
I wanna be sedated
Nothing to do, nowhere to go oh,
I wanna be sedated

Just put me in a wheelchair, get me through the slow
Hurry hurry hurry, before I go loco
I can't control my rigors, I can't control my glows
Oh no oh oh oh oh

Ba ba baba, baba ba baba, I wanna be sedated
Ba ba baba, baba ba baba, I wanna be sedated
Ba ba baba, baba ba baba, I wanna be sedated
Ba ba baba, baba ba baba, I wanna be sedated