I have a young family & my kids give me the inspiration to fight; twice since my diagnosis I have been given two weeks to live, but I refuse to let this defeat me.
I have a malignant melanoma stage 4, which spread to my brain and other major organs. I started taking opdivo & yervoy (4 doses) in October 2022 and following that I continued with opdivo only.
Then in June this year, the cancer spread to my kidneys and bone, so clearly the opdivo only had ceased to work. I am living in Japan so there are no clinical trials available.
In August the oncologist proposed that I try yervoy again, (a first for a Japanese hospital) and it worked !! the markers in my blood showed a reduction.
Through August I had two doses of combination therapy, before the side affects kicked in. I was hospitalized for 2 weeks with stage 3 diarrhea (stage 4 could be fatal).
I am now on steroids for the diarrhea and a panel of Drs will discuss my case and determine which course of action to proceed with. I'd personally like to take the two remaining doses of yervoy as I think diarrhea is a relatively small price to pay when the yervoy is working.
The journey continues....
Hi Jez
That's great to read that yervoy is working for you and i hope the doctors involved in your treatment will be able to sort out your side effects so you can continue.
Wishing you all the best
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
