There have been several milestones in my 86 years on Earth: marrying my wife, Pat, (celebrating 53 years in 2025), the births of our daughters and granddaughters, my first day working for the Press-Telegram (still at it 47 years later) and Nov. 2, 2016, when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

I have added another date to those memorable milestones — and that’s today, Jan. 26.

On this day, two years ago, I got a phone call that made by day, month, year and life. Dr. Maki Yamamoto, my cancer surgeon at UC Irvine Medical Center, called me and asked if I was ready for some good news.

She was calling with the latest biopsy results in my battle with melanoma.

“The biopsy shows that there is no detectable evidence of cancer in your body,” Yamamoto said. “All the results are negative.”

Which, in this case, was a positive. It meant my cancer was gone. But that didn’t necessarily mean I was cancer-free. Or that I could stop worrying about the cancer coming back.

Yamamoto told me that cancer cells can be so tiny that they aren’t always picked up by scans. Those cells can be lurking in your body without being detected until they grow and spread. That’s why I have been getting CT scans every three months for the past two years and will continue getting them for at least three more years — but fortunately, more infrequently. The majority of cancers recur in the first five years after your last treatment, Yamamoto said.

Her good news phone call to me was a great coincidence.

It was a year to the day when she told me that my first biopsy showed I had a very aggressive, Stage 3 melanoma on my scalp that could spread.

“I don’t sugarcoat things,” she said at that time.

I came to appreciate Yamamoto’s blunt honesty, as she predicted “a bumpy road” ahead in my cancer treatment.

I had many sleepless nights brought on by worries and anxieties about whether I’d survive this cancer. But I was encouraged by an outpouring of support from family members, friends, Press-Telegram colleagues and strangers who are good readers of the P-T.

I received hundreds of emails, snail mail cards and phone calls wishing me well. I received enough prayers that are still working.

After the surgery on the side of my head, I had immunotherapy treatment with infusions of the drug Keytruda, which I had for a year when I received Yamamoto’s phone call telling me that the drug had done its job.

Back in 2015, this same drug saved the life of President Jimmy Carter when he had an even more advanced case of melanoma.

As a result, he was able to live to the ripe old age of 100 before he died late last month.

Besides continuing to have CT scans to monitor any growth or spread of my cancer, I am also doing one other important thing as a precaution against more cancer.

I am getting regular checkups with Dr. Benjamin Farahnik, my dermatologist at the Long Beach Laser Skin Care Center, who first diagnosed my melanoma and sent me to UCI Medical Center for treatment.

If I may, I have some advice to offer here. If you don’t have a dermatologist, find one. If you have one but haven’t seen them in a while, make an appointment. If I had done that myself, I may have avoided the painful struggle I endured.

Skin cancers are especially prevalent in sunny Southern California. I have had many spots on my body for years, but never thought they were serious cancer threats. Not until I had a mole on the side of my head that was growing.

The lesion turned out to be a malignant melanoma — the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

Farahnik called the melanoma “incredibly serious” and immediately sent me to UCI Medical Center for surgery and treatment.

I now see Farahnik every three or four months for checkups. He calls most of my moles “wisdom spots,” but he has also discovered some he didn’t like and has treated in his office.

I will be celebrating my good news cancer call anniversary today with my wife, who has been such a great support for me during my cancer journey.

I wish all of you who have encouraged me during this ordeal could be with us. Here is a toast to all of you for your thoughtfulness and caring as I continue on this bumpy road — which is getting smoother every year.