Two Melanoma Patients

Whitey · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:44 pm Post subject: Two Melanoma Patients

My wife and I are both melanoma patients. She is stage IIIc and I am stage I. She currently is hospitalized with shingles. She was undergoing chemo as part of a clinical trial. Her oncologist told her today that the tumor on her lung has grown during the treatment and she also has several nodes involved. She was diagnosed on the Monday following Thanksgiving in 2006 and since then has been involved in a series of treatments.
Her melanoma was on her scalp where her hair naturally parts and it had appeared a few years before but disappeared by the time she saw my dermatologist. When it came back it grew very fast. On Dec 20 2006 she had an area about 3" X 5" removed from the L.H. front of her scalp starting about 3/4" behind her hairline and multiple nodes removed from her neck. She came home from the hospital on Xmas Eve with a bandage stitched to the top of her head. On Jan 4 2007 she had skin from her thigh grafted to her scalp and multiple nodes removed from the other side of her neck. Mel was found in about 4 nodes out of about 50 removed. In Feb 2007 I took her for Interferon treatments Mon.-Fri. for 4 weeks. Within two weeks of completing this course of treatment the dermatologist biopsied two lumps on her scalp. They were both malignant as well as one more on her forehead. She went for radiation treatments on her scalp for 20 treatments over a one month period.
The rad treatments were very tiring. In Feb. of 2008 we were told that several small spot appeared on one of her lungs. We decided to wait a while before trying any more treatments and she had a PET scan every three months. These spots remained very small and slow growing. In Nov 2008 it was decided that she would start a clinical trial with monoclonal antibodies in Jan. 2009. After much testing and running around she was accepted and started getting treated. This trial was to last three months and the end was approaching when the shingles struck. We knew that if the cancer got larger or spread that the trial would end. We were informed today that she will not be getting anymore treatments.
Shingles can be very bad for a patient with a compromised immune system. Transplant recipients and cancer patients are at increased risk of complications. The Dr. said that when she recovers from the shingles and feels better we can discuss what is next.
I had a nasty looking mole on my left chest in 1996. I used to look at it in the mirror while shaving and say to myself that "jeez that looks just like those pictures warning of melanoma". I went to my Dr. for a physical three times and every time he had an excuse not to do it. Finally he asked me if it would be O'k if a nurse practitioner gave me the physical. She noticed the mole and told me I needed to see a dermatologist. I made an appointment with a Dr. I had seen 15yrs. before. He removed it and and sent it to the lab. He called me and told me that it was highly irregular and would have turned into melanoma. I went back and he took more off.
I went for follow-up visits and everything was O'k. In March 2004 I saw a dermatologist at a V.A. hospital and I showed her a red spot on the middle of the back of my left calf. It looked like an insect bite, but it had been there for a couple of months. She said it was nothing to worry about. At this time I was seeing the other dermatologist every six months for follow-up exams. He biopsied it. Ten days later when I got home my wife told me that he had called and said that he was leaving on vacation the next day and no matter what time I got home to call him at his home. When I called him, he told me that I had melanoma. His office sent me to a teaching hospital and I had the surgery and a sentinel lymph node biopsy which showed no spread.
We both have not been sun worshipers. We like to garden and work in our yard. We both have fair skin. I have blue eyes and blond hair. She has brown hair and green eyes.

	Cancer Forums Forum Index -> Melanoma and Skin Cancer Forum	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

A website for discussions about any type of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, prostate cancer, laryngeal cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and others