Very good to hear!
Very good to hear!
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Excellent - I'm off to see my dermatologist today. Should just be routine.....
Time for an update on my story.
I had my surgery to excise the Melanoma on my neck in September 2018. The surgeon also performed a Lymph Node Biopsy to check whether there was any sign of it spreading. The Bioposy came up negative. The surgery was fairly extensive, though you can see little obvious sign of it now. They take a 10mm plus margin and my scar is well over 100mm long.
In late 2018 I had my annual catch up with my Sleep/Respiratory Specialist. I have Sleep Apnea and some Fibrosis nodules that are being monitored. There was no real change since my last check up, but as an after thought, the Doctor gave me a referral for an updated CT Scan. I had the scan and thought nothing more of it till later that week I had a call from the Specialist wanting to see me, urgently. We had just booked a cruise, our first and were looking forward to it.
THE CT Scan showed what appeared to be Cancer Nodules in my lungs. A Lung Biopsy a few days later confirmed it was Stage 4, Metastasized Melanoma. We were stunned. Our limited understanding at the time was there was no real treatment and it was considered terminal.
A few days later we met with an Oncologist and were somewhat surprised and relieved to be told that there were now treatments, but they were very new, the data for longer term prognosis was very limited and it did not work for everyone. The treatment was Immunotherapy, via an infusion every 3 weeks. My layman understanding is the Immunotherapy drug "unlocks" the Body's visibility of the Cancer and allows your Immune System to attack the Cancer. Thankfully, in my case I responded immediately to the treatment and the Melanomas shrunk and disappeared over 3 to 6 months. I continued the treatment till the beginning of this year, as data was still limited but building gradually on the longer term prognosis and options. Thankfully, I did not suffer any of the side effects of the drug. And other than a couple of hours every 3 weeks plus regular CT and occasional PET (much less fun!) scans I had an uneventful treatment.
I had my first follow up today with my Oncologist and it was brief as the CT scan was still clear. He did remind us though that a few years ago, it would have been a different story.
So the good news is it is potentially treatable, though not 100% successfully. I was very lucky; 1) that there is now a treatment and 2) it was picked up relatively quickly.
So I can only reinforce; get your skin checked regularly and don't be afraid to question or get a second opinion if something worries you or someone close to you.
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Great stuff, Daves.
Immunotherapy is what the Hawthorn player, Jarryd Roughead, had for his cancer a few years ago. Reading his biography, he mentioned that it is a bit more supported by Medicare now. Was that the case for you?
Thanks Chappy and Andy.
AP, all costs were covered by Medicare and our Health Fund, no out of pocket. I attended a Cancer Clinic as a day patient and the Oncologist bulk billed.
When I was first diagnosed, we attended an Immunotherapy Conference that happened to be on at the Convention Centre. It was an international event and had leading Immunologists attending. It was inspiring and confidence building. We also got to meet and hear from one of the first Clinical Trial (2014) patients, who had been given the same diagnosis and was then 2 years NED (No Evidence of Disease). There are some great stories out there and you also learn that Australia's medical research rocks and is world leading in many fields. The Berghofer Institute is awesome in a field of giants.
https://www.melanoma.org.au/understa...7D5470ED3CF2B3
Thanks for sharing and so releived for you there is a great outcome. Was a bit nervous while reading that.
The Berghofer immunolgists buy my stuff used for that research. Glad I helped.
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