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In the Loop: “MelaNoMore” puts a tune to conductor’s cancer journey
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Steve Lyon wanted to do something to raise awareness about the melanoma after his diagnosis. So the longtime conductor composed an original piece of music and invited a diverse group of musicians to bring the piece to life.
(Image Courtesy Sailor Sun/Hometown Source)
Steve Lyon stood at the podium, lifted his hands and began conducting the sea of musicians looking up at him. It's something he's done countless times before as director of the Champlin Park High School Band and St. Louis Park Community Band. But this concert was also a first for Steve. It included a performance of "MelaNoMore," a piece he'd composed himself — and one with a very personal history.
The journey to that performance began two years ago, when Steve learned that what he thought was a wart behind his ear was actually melanoma. He headed to Mayo Clinic's Rochester campus for treatment. There, "doctors removed 32 lymph nodes from his neck and head," where the cancer had spread, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The next step was immunotherapy, which he began in June, "taking a medicine that boosted his immune system to find and destroy the cancer cells in his body," the paper explains. Read the rest of the story.
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This story originally appeared on the In the Loop blog.
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