The Torres Family

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about skin cancer is that it's well, just "skin" cancer. As in, "it's only on my skin so it can just be scrapped off" skin cancer. If this story in USA Today doesn't drive home the fact that melanoma is more than just a "skin" cancer then I don't know what will.

I read a lot of stories related to melanoma and I know you can't quantify someone's pain and suffering but I'm not afraid to say this has got to be one of the saddest stories I've ever read about melanoma and how it's emotionally and financially devastating a young family.

I encourage you to read about Susan Torres and how she tragically may be the first brain-dead melanoma patient to deliver a baby.

Excerpts:

"How many rocks are they going to throw in your cart before you can't pull it anymore" he says he asks himself. "The answer, apparently, is a lot." (Jason Torres, Susan's husband).

Right now, the target is mid-July, when Susan will be about 25 weeks pregnant - 15 weeks short of a full pregnancy. That's the gestation age, doctors tell Torres, where a baby can survive though with a heightened risk of brain damage and vision and developmental problems.

Torres' goal is for Susan and the baby to reach the 30-week mark, when such risks are greatly diminished.

Torres knows that the baby's delivery date, when and if it comes, will be bittersweet. After the baby is born, Susan's body will be anointed in the Catholic tradition, and she'll be allowed to die.

"That could be a little rough," he says.

"But I'm not focused there yet. The question I keep asking myself is: When this is over, do I get to take a baby home?"