Melenoma

MrFredrickson

July '08 diagnosed melenoma on my back. August '08, two nodes under my left arm were removed and both were metastisized melenoma. A week later they removed 25 more under the same arm. 1 more node was positive with cancer..I did radiation as a follow up from the surgery. A year to the day I am told it might of moved to my lungs but lets wait 6 months to confirm it. After a second opinion I go in for a CT on Aug 6th '09, and then maybe a PET.

The whole process seemed vague..maybe, maybe not..my only side effect so far is the lymphodemia from removing the nodes and a mild cough..

I am reading that metasitised melenoma in the lung is a death sentence...???

longingforhope

Not always a death sentence
My husband was diagnosed Aug 23, 2008 with malignant metastic melanoma stage 3 with a 5 cm tumor on his back which is huge. After a PET Scan, CT scan, tons of blood work and seeing the Oncologist within a week they thought there were going to be telling us he was stage 4 and terminal. By the grace of God it was stage 3 with only one sentinel node under his left arm pit. Ironically his Surgeon died the next week and our daughter was hospitalized for a week with a migraine. Some how I managed to find another surgeon and he had his first surgery on Oct 8th I was emotionally drained. A week later we found out he had to have a much more extensive surgery where they widened the margins and removed the sentinel node that crumbled then an additional 20 lymph nodes and that caused nerve damage and edema That was a 4 hr surgery and it took an hour to clean up the sentinel node that crumbled, it was overwhelming.

They couldn't do chemo or raditation those were't an option. So he is undergoing a year of Interferon Therapy. We started with 5 weeks of iv treatmets 5 days a week and travelled an hour each way through snow and ice. Now I give him shots 3 times a week. He recently had a PET scan and there is No Evidence of Disease and his treatments will be over in November.

There is also another woman on here Hollyberry who has stage 4 melanoma and has been alive for almost 2 yrs with experimental treatment. So hang in there, look for trials, ask questions, take anti depressants and don't lose faith. Post on here and come into the chatroom it really does help

Welcome to the family

Hope

hollyberry

longingforhope said:

Not always a death sentence
My husband was diagnosed Aug 23, 2008 with malignant metastic melanoma stage 3 with a 5 cm tumor on his back which is huge. After a PET Scan, CT scan, tons of blood work and seeing the Oncologist within a week they thought there were going to be telling us he was stage 4 and terminal. By the grace of God it was stage 3 with only one sentinel node under his left arm pit. Ironically his Surgeon died the next week and our daughter was hospitalized for a week with a migraine. Some how I managed to find another surgeon and he had his first surgery on Oct 8th I was emotionally drained. A week later we found out he had to have a much more extensive surgery where they widened the margins and removed the sentinel node that crumbled then an additional 20 lymph nodes and that caused nerve damage and edema That was a 4 hr surgery and it took an hour to clean up the sentinel node that crumbled, it was overwhelming.

They couldn't do chemo or raditation those were't an option. So he is undergoing a year of Interferon Therapy. We started with 5 weeks of iv treatmets 5 days a week and travelled an hour each way through snow and ice. Now I give him shots 3 times a week. He recently had a PET scan and there is No Evidence of Disease and his treatments will be over in November.

There is also another woman on here Hollyberry who has stage 4 melanoma and has been alive for almost 2 yrs with experimental treatment. So hang in there, look for trials, ask questions, take anti depressants and don't lose faith. Post on here and come into the chatroom it really does help

Welcome to the family

Hope

Metastatic Melanoma
Dear Mr. Fredrickson,
I have been battling this beast for almost 2 years and have been stage 4 for over a year; there are clinical trials that hold great hope for this disease. I don't know where you go for treatments, but I would find a cancer center that focuses on new therapies and treatments.
The best advice I can offer is this: don't give up! If your current therapy isn't working, find a teaching hospital that has a cancer center that focuses on Melanoma. That way, you have a team that is up on the latest clinical trials and can help you make the myriad of decisions that go along with cancer treatment. I have had some great successes and some failures in treatments, but I never give up. You need to find your warrior spirit and take a strong hand in your care. It will make you feel so much better, just having some sense of control.
If you'd like to talk further , you can internal mail me and I can listen and understand your anxieties and hopes and maybe even have some coping skills that will help you through some of the tough time ahead. Just hang in there and know that this community cares!!!

Good luck and God bless,
Hollyberry