The stories keep coming! They are YOUR stories and they are OUR stories. Thank you, so much, for sharing. You are making a difference in someone's life!
Remember to also check out the corresponding website and participate in that if you'd like. Details are on the site: facesofmelanoma.net Thank you!
Kelly Tolley shares:
ReplyDeleteMy name is Kelly im 44 yrs old and I had a small mole on my cheek that I totally ignored even after it tripled in size and turned almost completly black. When I finally went to get it checked on Nov 8th and they removed my mole. On Nov 17th my pathology report came back and I was diagnosed with stage 2 clarks level 3 Melanoma.
Jennifer Christie shares:
ReplyDeleteThe Good, The Bad, The Ugly & The Truth....
TRUST ME, Like most of us...we don't LOOK the part of a person with a deadly disease, but we are walking around in a shell trying to find a normal that will forever be taken from us...trying to stay ahead of a monster that is trying to attack us and kill us from the inside out. We put on the front that we are not scared as that is no way to live, but let me tell you....the FEAR exists as much as the HUNGRY OPTIMISM FOR A CURE...MORE TIME = MORE RESEARCH AND MORE RESEARCH LEADS US TO THE DAY WHERE WE CAN TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND REALIZE THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR US TO SEE OUR FUTURE....A BEAUTIFUL MOTIVATOR!
Melanoma and Me....An unwanted roller coaster ride that seems to never end.
PLEASE PRAY FOR A CURE!
A TRUTH that needs so much attention because with a little education, this monster can be at least tamed at an early stage.
Jennifer Christie 36 year old Female
Stage 3b melanoma diagnosed JUNE 2006
Treatments
1 mo. of high dose interferon
5 mo of self injections at home
Pulled off due to toxicity---Interferon shut down my thyroid...Suicidal thoughts and plan (not what this happy go lucky 30 year old recently engaged young lady had in her plan, psychotic, lost 45 lb, 104 fever, vomiting, terrible headaches, bone aches (my bones felt like they were on backwards...Horrible pain!
Unexpected Pregnancy, but very much wanted only issue was I was told to wait 5 years after treatment...uh! I was only 6 mo out from Interferon...GOD KNEW IT WAS MY ONLY SHOT AT A CHILD...GOD KNEW AND BOY, DO I HAVE MANY, MANY MORE OF THOSE AH HA MOMENTS LET ME TELL YOU....
NED AFTER THE BIRTH OF MY HEALTHY BABY BOY AND THE CLEAR SCANS TO PROVE IT---MY BRAIN SAID "ZACHARY NEEDS A SIBLING"
trying to expand family...CLEAR for almost 2 1/2 years had 2 miscarriages
Diagnosed Stage 4 with Metastasis Everywhere April 24th Easter Weekend of 2011
Been fighting and chasing treatments ever since. I will never give up!
Her blog: http://jenprayers.blogspot.com/
Nicholas Thornburg shares:
ReplyDeleteAge: 29
Diagnosed - July 2002
Currently Stage IV
After being diagnosed with melanoma in 2002, my body has been in a constant fight with this disease for 10 years.
My initial diagnosis was from a mole on my neck and it was found by my dermatologist. I had surgery in the summer of 2002 to have the cancer removed and I was told by my doctors that I needed no treatment and to go on living my life.
Well after living my life for 5 years, I noticed a lump in my neck while I was visiting Oxford for a football game. I decided to go to the ear, nose and throat doctor to have him take a look at the lump and he scheduled a biopsy based on my previous history with melanoma. I had melanoma in my lymph node and the only thing I could think of was that I was going to die.
After a few months and my mom's pushiness, we ended up at MD Anderson in Houston, TX to fight this disease head on. Dr. Diaz removed 42 lymph nodes from my neck in an operation called a Radical Neck Dissection. After the neck dissection, I had to have 5 radiation treatments.
After the radiation treatments, I went back to MD Anderson in April to have my pet scans and MRIs and blood work. The PET scan had shown that there was melanoma in my buttock and my right knee. I was studying for the bar exam at the time. After the exam, I went to Houston for surgery at the beginning of August. We got the all clear from the doctor in Houston and we came back to Memphis.
Following the last surgery, I received excellent reports from my doctors in Houston for over 2 years. I went every 3 months and I could barely contain my excitement that I was about to graduate to 4 month checkups. Another good checkup and I finally made it to 4 month checkups. I let my guard down and I was relieved that I had FINALLY beaten this disease. I was not as educated as I should have been.
I went for my checkup last may and the doctor came in and said something I never expected. The PET scan lit up and they thought I might have a lymph node with melanoma in my abdomen.
Lee Ann Lobaugh shares:
ReplyDeleteAge 58
Dx July 2005 - Right Shin freckle/mole. Saw three Doctors, not a problem, finally one Dr. removed it. Following day was told it was melanoma. Was told the area had clean margins after three different wide excisions.
Sept 2006 - Lump in Right groin. Fine needle Bx confirmed melanoma. Groin dissection Oct 2006. Pelvic floor dissection November 2006. Radiation January 2007. Interferon January - June 2007 discontinued INF after 6 months due to partial blindness in right eye (cotton wool spots) caused by Interferon. NED to date YIPPIE!!! Check ups every three months with Oncologist, 6 months with Dermatologist.
Terra Shrader shares:
ReplyDeleteAge 36
First DX May 2009
Stage 1B
In May of 2009, my Doctor removed a pretty large mole on the front of my right shin by WLE and sent it in to be biopsied. He had a bad feeling about the mole but for some reason I wasn't scared- I thought it would never happen to me.
I went back in 2 weeks later for the results.... and it was Melanoma. It was Stage 1B, Clarks level 4. I completely lost it. I thought I was going to die. I was set up to see a surgeon and have more tissue taken out and tested and also for a lymph node biopsy to be done. I also had a PET Scan scheduled.
The PET Scan turned out good-- didn't show any cancer in my body. My surgery was set up for a week later. During the couple of weeks between the time I got my results and the second surgery, I was in horrible shape emotionally. I could not eat and I just pretty much felt like I was going to die. All I wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep.
I had my second surgery on June 2 2009 and everything went well. They said they got all the Melanoma and my lymph node biopsy in my groin came back good. From there, I was told to get chest x-rays every 6 months for 2 years and to get my skin checked every 3 months for 2 years.
Since then, all of my chest x-rays have come back good and I have been seeing my dermatologist every 3 months... even though after 2 years I could have switched to going every 6 months, I keep going every 3 just because it makes me feel better being checked more often. I have had over 35 moles removed and biopsied and they have all come back good until October of 2011.
In October of 2011, I had a mole on my back biopsied and it came back Melanoma, but it was in-situ so I had caught it very early. I had another WLE done on that one and everything came back good.
As of today, I am still going to the dermatologist every 3 months and trying to live my life the best I can without worrying too much. In the back of my mind, there are always thoughts about there being Melanoma in my body spreading that the doctors just didn't catch. And every ache and pain I have, I think what if it's Melanoma. Not a very fun way to live your life... but Melanoma does that to you.
Heather Hawkins shares:
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed in June of 2005 primary was in my right hand, one month before my 21st birthday. The doctors found that I had a small amount of melanoma in my lymph node. So I had to have another surgery to remove more lymph nodes from under my right arm. Then I was put on interferon for a year.
I was having blood work done every three months then every six months with a chest X-ray. I was hoping my oncologist would tell me I only had to come once a year. Unfortunately I was told there was a "shadow" on my right lung. I then had a biopsy on the "shadow". It came back positive for melanoma. That's when I became stage IV.
In October the same year it was discovered that I hat two tumors in my brain. I've had gamma knife twice two craniotomies and radiation done on my brain.
I was told a few months later the the cancer was everywhere. I had it in my jaw and a tumor in my mouth.
I was put through treatment after treatment until we gave Yervoy a try. I just prayed for peace and that the suffering would end. God has worked a miracle in me!! I have a small amount of melanoma in my right thigh. But other than that my scans have been clear these last few months!!!!! Miracles still happen!!
Kelly Martin Age 32 shares:
ReplyDeleteStage IV Melanoma
Diagnosed September 2008
I've had Melanoma since September 2008. I went to the doctor for some shoulder pain and come out with a cancer diagnosis. Not what I expected, AT ALL. It's stage 4, the worst stage, just my luck. My melanoma is not on the outside of my body, it's internal. Right outside of my left lung is where the largest tumor is located. I have some smaller tumors located lower in my abdomen and one in my left breast. Ugh that one hurts like a bitch!! Just washing myself in the shower with a loofah hurts...anyways I'm going to start rambling...lol. I've done experimental drugs, chemotherapy, radiation & IL-2. The IL-2 was supposed to be "the one" that would pretty much shrink my tumors to nothing. Ya not so much. I did 2 rounds of it and each time I had to be in the hospital for 1 week. It was hell on earth. I couldn't eat, I couldn't stop throwing up, I couldn't stop shitting, I felt like I had been hit by a bus, I would shake uncontrollably because I was so cold then I would be burning up, my skin was so dry and it was peeling off my body SO badly, my feet & legs swelled up like sausages. It was horrible. Then when we were finally able to see if it worked, we found out it didn't :( It shrunk the tumors a little bit but not as much as my doctor was hoping. It was such a letdown, especially after how hellish of an experience it was. I'll never do it again. If it had worked I'd have done 1000 rounds of it if it had meant I'd go into remission. We finally found a drug that is working! It's a Phase 1 Trial drug, no name, just letters & numbers. It's working. I just completed Cycle 30. My 1st CT Scan after starting this drug showed that ALL of my tumors shrunk by 32-38%!!!! I've been in partial remission since September of 2010. I can't wait for the day that I'm in full remission.