Because I think we'll find particular stories easier if there aren't but so many on a page, I'm starting a new page. To locate your story, just remember the post name and date and you can easily locate it on the right.
Thank you so much for sharing either your own story or that of a loved one!
And remember, this is linked to the Faces of Melanoma website.
God bless the journey.
Oh, jeez, where to start ... I guess the beginning would be as good a place as any, right?
ReplyDeleteNovember 23, 2005. My husband had been feeling like he had the flu and had a swollen lymph node under his left arm for about a week. As doctors tend to do when one has a swollen lymph node that long, they did a needle biopsy. On the afternoon of the 23rd - the day before Thanksgiving - we got the call: Stage 3 melanoma. No known primary. Yeah, great timing - what exactly were we supposed to be thankful for??
He had the lymph node removed, went through chemo and radiation ... things were looking pretty good for the next 2 years. November 2007, this bastard came back with a vengeance. More chemo, more radiation, throw in some immunotherapy and a clinical trial at Sloan-Kettering for good measure. March 2008, he was looking better, feeling better, and we thought for sure he was kicking melanoma's ass just as he had every other obstacle that's ever been thrown his way in his life. He was a recovering alcoholic - 24 years clean and sober. Cancer was a piece of cake.
March 27, 2008. He went for a routine MRI to see how things were going. Doctors came in his room with the results: he had 10 tumors in his brain; they gave him 4 weeks to live.
3 weeks to the day, he was gone.
November 10, 2011. I was overdue for my annual head-to-toe checkup due to insurance issues. Finally got to see my dermatologist in late October. She noticed a spot on my left calf that wasn't there when I had my full-body photo mapping done in 2009. It was very small (0.2cm), and she wanted to keep an eye on it and see me back in 3 months. I made an appointment to follow up in January. Went home, and something just wasn't sitting right with me about it. That night, I heard Danny's voice telling me, "go get this thing taken care of." The next day, I called and made an appointment to come in for a biopsy. Walked in to her office a few days later and got a funny look from my doctor. She asked why I was there. I told her something in my gut was just telling me I needed to have that spot biopsied. She did so, and 8 days later, at 5:38pm, I got the call. My first 3 thoughts were, in order:
1) Oh, SHIT.
2) Hey, now I get to wear one of those cool shirts at Relay!!
3) Hey, Dan? I know we had a LOT in common, but did we REALLY need THIS, too?!?!
I had a wide re-excision done on 12/12/2011. They say they got all of it. Stage 1A.
May 27, 2012. I developed swollen lymph nodes in my left groin and under my left arm. A PET scan, a CT scan, an MRI, an ultrasound. PET/CT showed an adnexal mass in the groin, but weren’t conclusive (I think me being a Type 1 diabetic threw the results off – since insulin interferes with the radioactive glucose used to conduct the test, I had to go off my insulin pump and revert to long-acting insulin the night before. BG was 170mg/dl before the test; it was on the high end, but within the <200mg/dl threshold). Ultrasound scheduled for 6/14, MRI for 6/17.
Light a candle and say a prayer.
Becca Cox shares:
ReplyDeleteIn late summer 2010 I had a mole on my upper right chest that started to change, grow, bleed, and itch. It took me until March of 2011 to have it looked at by a dermatologist. I thought it was nothing, maybe it might be removed. They took one look at it and put me in the procedure room to remove it. A few days later they called to tell me it was Melanoma. At the time I still didn’t know what I was dealing with, but I soon learned. I went in to have a wide excision of the area, along with a sentinel node biopsy. The surgery was a success, getting clean margins, but the sentinel node tested positive for Melanoma. I went back in for another surgery to have all the lymph nodes in my right axillary underarm removed. The rest of the nodes came back clear. I was staged at 3b. In June, during a PET scan while I was still healing they found a tumor behind my right knee. I had another surgery to remove it, and thankfully it was benign.
I talked with my oncologist and family, and opted not to do Interferon. Doing a clinical trial wasn’t feasible for me for financial and transportation reasons. We chose to wait and observe. That’s where I’m at now, one year later, NED, and praying to stay that way.
Kelly James shares about her son Casey:
ReplyDeleteCasey was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma on November 30, 2010. Casey is 19 years old. He has been through 10 rounds of Radiation and 21 rounds of Chemotherapy and is doing well. He will start his second round of chemotherapy in approximately two weeks. I will be posting updates as much as possible for anyone who would like to keep up with Casey's progress. Please feel free to look around, and/or comment on his page.
Casey was born April 30, 1991. He is our son (Harry and Kelly James) and the brother to Cory James. He has always been a really lovable son. Casey has a strong will and is very determined to accomplish any goal he reaches out for.
Casey was in a car accident in Oct 09. He was helping a friend move three weeks later and they called us because they said he was having a seizure. Took him to the ER and they didn't find anything (WJMC) Then in March this year, he would wake up every morning and throw up. I took him back and forth to the dr and they dx him with migraines. After three weeks of this, I decided to get a second opinion. On our way to that appt, he wouldn't stop vomiting so we went back to the ER (WJ) At first, they said they thought he had a subrachnoid hemorrhage. They ruled that out. After a few days in the hospital, he came home. He wasn't home for an hour and he had a grand mal seizure in the front yard. We called 911. He was in WJ for about 12 days. They had him on some medication for awhile and then sent him home. He was home for 3 days and had another seizure. Back to WJ for another 14 days. They changed his medication. He's had an angiogram, 4 spinal taps, MRA, 5 MRI's, 6 CT's and a slew of labwork at this time. He still kept complaining about headaches, so we took him to the eye dr to see if his contacts needed to be changed. When she did the exam, she noticed he had alot of swelling at the optic nerve ending. We called the dr and took him back to the ER because he had hydrocephalus ~not sure of the cause of this~ They winded up putting a shunt in his brain to release the pressure. He was in WJ for another 10 days or so. He came home and 5 days later, he started vomiting blood, so back to the ER. He was in WJ for about 19 days and came home. He wasn't home for 1/2 an hour and had a seizure in the back yard. Called 911, the ambulance brought him to Ochsner-Westbank this time. They had to induce him into a medical coma to stop the seizure. He was in a seizure for almost 1 1/2 hours, even after them giving him over 140 mgs of Ativan to calm his body down. Casey was in a coma for 8 days. He was at Ochsner ICU for a week, then in a room for a week and now he's at Touro's inpatient rehab center making incredible progress. Five weeks after being in Rehab, he had another seizure. He spent a few weeks in ICU then was transferred to Telemetry unit as a step down. He aspirated and went back to ICU for 13 weeks. During his time in ICU the doctors finally decided to due a brain biopsy. When the results came back, we were obviously devastated to hear what was really wrong. They sent a second opinion off to Mayo clinic and the results came back the same way. He has been through Radiation and Chemo and is making awesome progress. Thank God for all his wonderful nurses in Rehab and CCU at Touro and his wonderful doctor which never gave up on him. We are so grateful!
Stay Strong and Determined Casey! We love you!!! ♥
Melanoma does not discriminate. Wear sunscreen and stay out of the tanning beds. This evil bitch of a disease took Casey's life after a long battle of 14 months, 11 months staying in the hospital. RIP Casey, July 4, 2011. I miss you so much, my Sweetest Angel. ♥
Georgina Kerstin shares:
ReplyDeleteGeorgina Kerstin, 36 years of age
Diagnosed July 2006
Early stage 3, microscopic metastasis in sentinel node
NED since Aug 2006 after removal of 14 lymph nodes
My children were 18 months and 4 years when this happened. They were my driving force and still are to this day. I was diagnosed after having a suspicious mole biopsied. I received "the call" and life took an unexpected turn.
I tried not to think too much about it, just did. Went trough the motion of surgery #1 with sentinel node biopsy and wide margins taken from the right, lower left calf. Got the news of the microscopic metastasis in the sentinel node, surgery #2 two took place weeks after the first.
Thank God, the the lymph nodes that were removed were all clear and I have maintained a clean bill of health ever since.
I opted not to do treatment, as my Doc gave me a 7% difference if I chose interferon or nothing. I wasn't up for spending a year of my life sick when my children were so young with such low odds. I made changes in my lifestyle (lost weight & began practicing yoga) that I felt were more beneficial and positive for myself and my family as my treatment.
I am active in raising funds for the Melanoma Research Foundation and spreading the message of practicing safe sun when I'm not busy with the kids, now 7 & 10 years, and volunteering at their school.