Melanoma Mama is a story of struggle and resilience when faced with imminent death. I have melanoma, a vicious skin cancer which has spread ruthlessly. The doctors, in trying to ease my remaining days, inadvertently extended my expiration date. I love exploring the back corners of this vast country while tent camping. I thought I would never hear birds sing outside my tent again. After I had rallied from major surgery, from terrifying interleukin-2 treatments, and from debilitating radiation, I yearned to see this land again with the fresh eyes of recovery -- to grow larger than myself and larger than my cancer.

In this book, I relate how a recovering cancer patient seizes each day and packs it with geological marvels, wildlife adventures, and campsite calamities during a freewheeling ride across this grand continent. My travels trigger musings on varied subjects: the Lewis and Clark expedition’s farcical side, my ancestor, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s support of native Americans, and Blue Earth, Minnesota’s pride in their Jolly Green Giant statue. As I travel, I remember, in bits and pieces, my harsh medical treatments, my intimate glimpses of death, and how I struggled through those dreary days. The cumulative effect is a poignant, sweet-and-sour tale of a life lived with intensity and unbounded curiosity.