Today the Dear Melanoma Facebook Page reached the big 10 000!!! It would be silly to not recognise and celebrate this milestone.

Over the last two years Dear Melanoma has become a very important part of my life. The blog has given me purpose and something to concentrate on when the world around me felt like it was falling to pieces.

I was diagnosed with advanced cancer after returning from working in East Timor for a year – I was only 22. I had no workplace surrounding me that could support me and allow me to continue work. If I did want to work, I would have to go in being honest about everything that came along with having cancer, terminal cancer. Dear Melanoma has become my job. Even though I do not receive a salary, it has given me the structure of a job. It has given me the pride and the aspirations that come with a career. As the blog has grown, so has the roles that have come with the blog – speaker, advocate, published writer, fundraiser. The blog most definitely keeps me busy and limits the time I spend in the ‘woe is me’ frame of mind.

So Dear Melanoma Facebook Page went off last night. I felt like I was back to the evening when we had a mighty fine conversation about the stupid things people like to tell someone who has cancer – what a hilarious night it was! Last night I asked the Dear Melanoma community what they think should be in a ‘care package’ for people with cancer.

How did this come about? Well, as many of you know I work one day a week at a fab little gift shop in Brisbane. I often have people come in to work and ask for advice on what to give a friend that is sick and I normally just point them in the right direction and make some suggestions – I often will not tell them my personal situation. However, on Monday a lady came in and asked for help – she wanted to put a care package together for a friend who was about to start chemo. She was at a complete loss of how to support her friend and this was the perfect thing to show her love and support.