Just wondering if anyone has been offered this and whether they went through with it?
I thought a bit of background would help. My daughter has recently been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma after a lump in her neck appeared. Finally, two weeks later, got an appointment with GP who said it was probably nothing, probably just a cyst and referred her for a blood test. A week later got the blood test done. Fast forward several weeks and her job telling her to use the company medical insurance, to get this looked at quicker.. It turns out the lump in her neck was a cancerous lymph node. She has had surgery to remove this now. She has also had further surgery to remove a small mole under her eye which turned out to be clear anyway. She has further surgery later this month to remove a further 40 - 50 lymph nodes in her neck. At this point in time they do not know where the primary source is. She has been offered immunotherapy but has to decide on fertility preservation first before this can start.
Hello
I just wanted to reply and share my experience with you incase it helps at all. I was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma when I was 6 months pregnant and then stage 3 following further tests after my daughter was born. I was 34 years old at the time. It wasn’t safe to carry out a lymph node biopsy whilst I was pregnant so I effectively still had cancer in my body for almost a year. This was tough, as I’m sure it is for you and your daughter right now. I can very much empathise with what you’re going through and I’m very sorry to hear what your daughter has been through.
I had no idea that treatment could effect fertility until I was offered a course of IVF to freeze my eggs before my treatment began. I had very little time to make this decision due to the delay in the spread of my cancer being found. I have my baby girl who I love to pieces but I want more children so I decided to do it. In all honesty, I would say the emotional impact of IVF was quite tough but it was worth it to know I have my options open for the future. I injected my tummy each day for about a week and a half then my eggs were ready. The egg collection procedure wasn’t pleasant I’m afraid to say, but after a few days I felt ok. I could go into more detail but not sure how much you’d prefer. Nonetheless, this was about 5 months ago now and overall I am so pleased I did it. For having the peace of mind that I have that back up feels very worth it. I really hope this helps in some way. Wishing you and your daughter all the best x
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