. Hi I haven’t posted for a while as I was trying to concentrate on my treatment. I have been reading posts and I hope what I have to say will help some people. I have had melanoma for 12 years Firstly misdiagnosed as with a lot of people by my GP. It had spread to my S N and therefore at the time it was good practise to have a groin dissection. That gave me 14 days in hospital,lymphodema and results were not cancer found.
7 years later I felt ill ,lost a lot of weight and had sickness. I was told it was depression and anxiety as my father had died and I had to look after my mum who lived an another part of the country I actually had metastatic melanoma and it had spread to my lung,near my spine and a large tumour near my kidney. I felt very ill I was firstly given Dam Tram tablets which gave me tremors and fever. When after 7 months my cancer started to grow again so had for doses of ipi and Nivolumab.I was lucky to be able to tolerate the drugs. I had muscle aches and developed vitiligo on my arms and chest. This apparently is a good sign that the treatment is working.
Anyway I then had 4 years of Nivolumab and after the latest Pet scan I am cancer free. I was told this yesterday so just wanted to post this to show there is hope .I will be monitored every 3 months at first with scans and appointments to see consultant. Iamalso going to have my moles checked every 6 months. I know I should be delighted and I am but find the results hard to take in after so many years of treatment. My husband has been my rock and also close friends. The new developments in melanoma treatment have been amazing in this last 10 years as before that there wasn’t too much that could be done once it had reached stage 4 I was told I have a 50 % in May return but I have more awareness now of what to look for. I really can’t praise the medical team enough andam so grateful. I hope this helps some who are going through this now.
