By Nancy Eshelman
Florida sun burns down hot. Working outside 14-15 hours a day can be dangerous. Just ask Rodney Updegrave.
Rodney burned his shoulder in 2019 while working construction and maintenance in Florida. The small burn from a cigarette ash never properly healed due to exposure to the sun. Instead, it got larger and nastier, until one day Rodney decided he had better see a doctor.
The diagnosis was basal cell carcinoma, which the Skin Cancer Foundation calls the most common skin cancer in the United States. It's also the most frequently occurring cancer overall.
How frequent?
About 4.3 million cases are diagnosed in the country every year, and medical folks call that an underestimate. An aging population that has spent more time in the sun has more chance of developing skin cancer. Also, the depletion of the ozone layer has increased the risks.
"I left it go too long," said Rodney, who's 58.
Rodney wound up having surgery and skin grafts in the Lehigh Valley Health Network. He's been living in his native Schuylkill County, in Pine Grove, an hour and a half away from his doctors. He's on his own, and had some savings, but nothing lasts forever. He found himself selling three-fourths of his possessions.
Then he found Vickie's Angel Foundation. They have paid his rent and utilities. He calls the organization a godsend, but not just for monetary reasons.
"God connected me to them," he said.
In fact, Rodney is convinced that everything now is in sacred hands.
"All that happens from now on is God working me on my path," he said. "I believe all this was designed. It was a miracle for me, and it's not about the money."
Rodney said Mickey and Grace have provided much-appreciated encouragement and understanding as he walks his path. A phone call to or from either of them is a medicine of its own.
"They are the best people I have ever met," he said. "If heaven is anything like them, I can't wait to get there."
Currently, Rodney is undergoing physical therapy to restore the use of his shoulder, and caring for the 4x9 patch on his leg where skin was removed as a graft for his shoulder. In the future, he will have to stay out of the sun and remain vigilant, as doctors say his cancer has a 90 percent chance of reoccurring.
His ultimate goal, however, is to heal, so he can reach out and help others.
Rodney has had experience helping people through Alcoholics Anonymous and would like to put those skills to use in a substance abuse rehab. God, he said, "put me through this so I can help someone else."