Haven't updated the blog in a while...got a few things to post...

The Score is going well. Revenues have steadily risen, costs have been screwed down and continue to be reduced, and we've taken the time to "find" the business. When we started, The Score was much more of a service-oriented model, and primarily from feedback from our customers, we've greatly expanded our retail side. Basically, we're just pursuing our overall mission of "being the best place to buy or play a game" - everything we do has that in mind, or it's not done.

For six months into operations, it's clear we've got something going here. And we're lucky to have a number of great people who have lent a hand, in one way or another, to make the business as good as it can be.

I do have a personal update, however. Yesterday I was diagnosed with Stage 1 melanoma (skin cancer), the result of finding a dark spot on my skin that didn't quite look right, and my wife insisting that I go and get it checked out, even to the point of setting my appointment.

Naturally, I didn't think it was anything - why would it be? And at a Breslow depth (look it up) of 1.55 mm, it had quickly moved to something that, at 2 mm in depth, would likely have spread to other parts of the body and become much harder to treat.

So basically, I may have dodged a bullet.

The dermatologist removed the mole with a general excision immediately upon seeing it - without revealing much to me about what she thought, which was probably a feat in itself - and likely caught it all then. It's quite possible all the cancerous cells have been removed.

However, we won't be taking any chances. Thursday afternoon I will consult with a general surgeon in preparation for surgery that will cut a wider radius out of my arm (fortunately with no skin graft required) as well as what's called a sentinel node biopsy, which is a procedure to identify and remove the associated lymph node and test it for signs of cancer. If positive, we keep working, and if negative, breathe a sigh of relief. The doctors don't think it has gone anywhere, but better to check and find out.

For the last two or three weeks, my wife and I have known that either I had a pre-cancerous mole or an early-stage melanoma, but I can certainly say from my standpoint that I thought (again) it would be as minimal as possible. Waiting on results is an entirely different type of difficult thing to deal with, especially given everything else both of us have going on and the need to continue to be productive in our jobs and everywhere else.

Now, after this surgery is complete and regardless of its findings, my life has changed. I will have dermatologist and oncologist visits every 4 months for the next 2 years, and will be seeing these people frequently the rest of my life.

It's hard to get your bearings when something like this comes and changes things on you. I know I'm very fortunate this was caught when it was, and to have a lot of great people in my life - some of which happened to find out about this before this post, and some who will just be finding out as they read it. I still have difficulty even speaking about it, because to do so is to acknowledge just how lucky I am in so many ways, and it's a rush of emotion for me.

My family asks for your prayers, but I personally feel strongly that this is a wake-up call of sorts for me in a number of ways. Physically, I need to get more exercise and eat healthier than I have been, even when the business days are long. It's also obviously a good time to re-evaluate what's really important, and to go do it, although that's one thing I've generally been good about is not waiting around to pursue things I've always wanted to try.

The 5-year survival rate of my type of melanoma is 95%, with a 10-year survival rate of 89%. Another 6 months, and those percentages could've been cut in half.

Use this as an opportunity to read something about melanoma, what it is, and how important it is to get tested. Melanoma occurrence rates are way up over the past 10-20 years, due largely to an increase in UV radiation reaching the planet due to decreased ozone (no, not an environmentalist at all, just talking documented facts here) so while melanoma is tied to genetics and family history, a lot more people are getting it for the first time in a family now than ever before. Getting tested is easy and is a complete no-brainer, as lots of people die from this every year from all age groups.

So all in all, I'd have to say life is pretty good. God tests us in many ways, and if we're meant to understand part of it, it will be revealed. We can never understand everything - the machinery of life, all those things going on behind the scenes, can't be understood even if they were right in front of our face. I've always been good at looking at people and understanding what their motivations are, which always comforts me because I feel like I can predict what they will do. It's challenging for someone like me to come to terms with things like this, things that can so clearly serve a purpose, but to what extent, I'll never know.

I'll be "off the grid" for the next couple of weeks as I go through surgery and hopefully find out no cancer has spread anywhere, like the doctors think. Please pray for me and my family in the meantime. Feel free to drop me an email or get back in touch if we haven't spoken in a while.

There have been days in the growth and development of The Score, as a business, where I wondered how I could possibly keep going in the face of clear adversity. With this melanoma, I have never felt that way - I know this is just one of those trials that you go through.

Thanks for reading this far, if you made it, and see ya'll soon.