It’s been 16 days since my tummy was tucked.

And I’m back.

Back to standing upright, back to driving my kids to and from school, back to walking for exercise, back to my bed—so long, recliner.

Still no running, still no functioning without a compression garment wrapped around my middle, still a bit of swelling—which means still no blue jeans—but mostly, I’m back. It feels good.

John feels pretty good too, despite a small skin cancer surgery he had yesterday to remove a squamous cell carcinoma from his left hand. The procedure—called Mohs—went well. The doctor got the cancer by taking just one chunk of skin. Armed with a few stitches, John is on his way to a speedy recovery.

In honor of Skin Cancer Awareness Month—it’s this month, May—take a peek at this site, home of The Skin Cancer Foundation. While there, find out how to best prevent, detect, and treat this all-too-common disease. By too common, I mean this: About one million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma each year. About 250,000 get the squamous cell variety. And nearly 60,000 are stricken with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Before you’re done investigating this disease, pay a visit to my friend Miss Melanoma. She’ll surely convince you that skin cancer is nothing to mess with. Her nine toes are a constant reminder.