Hi-
my husband was diagnosed with melanoma about 3 years ago and underwent surgery to remove it and a lymph node for biopsy. The biopsy was positive so it was stage 3. He then had 1 year immunotherapy.
last year his pet scan showed a lymph node lighting up but it was so small the surgeon said they would just watch it. Of course now, 6 months later, it is much larger. He had a needle biopsy done a week ago and it was positive for melanoma. So now he speaks to the surgeon on Friday about having it removed and the oncologist mentioned another 12 months of immunotherapy.
of course my husband is upset and doesn’t like talking about it. I know everyone is different, but what would the prognosis be for someone in similar situation? It is very difficult being a spouse of a cancer patient with only Limited information.
any help or info is appreciated-
Hi Maere
Sorry to hear about your husband. My wife's cancer is very different but when she was diagnosed she was very clear she did not want a prognosis and I really struggled with that. As you noted though everyone is different and any prognosis is likely to be at best a guess based on averages.
Totally get what you mean about having limited information, indeed if we look at your feelings when someone has cancer I know I recognize a lot of things that I went through. If you look in on our Family and friends forum and/or Carers only forum you will find a lot of friends in a very similar situation.
What really helped me was a living with less stress course, I realized I was leaning heavily on anticipatory grief and that stopped me appreciating what we have.
<<hugs>>
Steve
