New to the Forum , not new to my melanoma!

my melanoma was diagnosed from a mole on my lower right back  last year after biopsy . Subsequent surgery followed with sentinel lymph node surgery during which the surgeon identified  cancer not in my lymph node but on my  chest wall which was operated on at a later stage. Throughout all of this process I felt confident with everybody who was dealing with me and the treatment I received. 

I am not long divorced , I live alone and have two grown offspring living with their own families and as a family we still function as best we can  at long distance, I shared my situation with the family group and talked about it freely and I consider myself very lucky to have all that love and compassion . Outside my family group I really didn't discuss my situation with anyone other than my GP and Oncologist and of course  the amazing MacMillan nurses , but none of these conversations dealt in any depth with my emotions or  my "onwards and upwards" approach.

Treatment continued with immunotherapy which I found manageable . I should mention that between  the surgery and the the immunotherapy commencing I was diagnosed and treated for AF ,a heart anomaly which is being dealt with by drugs also ,during the therapy I had a major gall stone event after which the surgeon refrained from surgery due to ongoing "complicating factors.

Not my best year so far but ...more to come. Five months into the therapy  treatment of a side effect  thyroid imbalance went awry and my hormone system broke down. The drugs dealing with the thyroid imbalance suppressed my adrenal gland output  effectively shutting it down and so things got bad.I basically confused the symptoms of my adrenaline shortage with the side effects of the therapy . This was a serious mistake although I did share what was happening with the family and eventually my GP . The fact is I did not share it enough,describing my inability to get any food down my throat at all ,as a wee problem solved by drinking Japanese ITSU chicken stock and herbs. I was lucky to survive and that was by the awesome response of the MacMillan Nurses and hospital staff who upon sight of me had me in A&E  and admitted to hospital for a few days. Apparently I'll be on Steroids and cortisol for the rest of my days

Immunotherapy over. Scans during hospitalisation showed the tumor  growing and  apparently moved to the lymph nodes.

That's where I'm at now. I'm advised the way forward is targeted treatment with pills and I'm midway through the week the oncologist suggested I take to consider this option. I've applied and been accepted for BUPA therapy via MacMillan program.

That's where I'm at now and I think perhaps I finally need to talk to other people who know what it's like to be in this situation . From the outset I decided to go with whatever the specialists recommended and that remains my intention but I've realised I need to share this and learn from others in a similar predicament if I'm going to get the best of it.