In April of 2000, I went to a dermatologist to have a suspicious-looking mole removed from my thigh. Nothing unusual as I have had moles removed all of my adult life. The pathology report came back negative for any type of cancer. I returned to the same dermatologist twice in 2000 for other skin related reasons and to ask about the apparent regrowth of the mole under the scar. Both times, the doctor ignored my suspicions and said there was no reason for concern. In May of 2001, I saw a different dermatologist who also said there was no reason to be concerned. The mole was becoming more and more unsightly so I wanted a referral to a plastic surgeon to have it removed. My primary care physician’s assistant was alarmed by the look of the area and sent me to a third dermatologist who in October of 2001 took a biopsy and sent it to Oregon Health Sciences University. The report confirmed that it was melanoma.
I had two surgeries in December 2001 to remove the melanoma and its margins and the contaminated deep lymph notes in my leg and groin. This resulted in a 17-inch scar up my leg and groin. The surgery was followed by nine months of immunotherapy with alpha-interferon. In addition, I participated in a study of hypo-fractionated radiation treatments (5 very high doses of radiation over 15 days). The radiation burned my leg to the extent that I developed a large abscess that would not heal. Stefan spent the summer of 2002 working with medical professionals trying all sorts of treatments but to no avail. The pain became increasingly intense and did not respond to oral pain killers. In a last ditch effort to save the leg, I began a month of hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments which helped begin some healing of the area. In December 2002, I had experimental TRAM flap surgery to close the wound. This worked and to everyone’s surprise, after being in a wheel chair most of the fall, I was able to dance at Jon and Lori’s wedding in March of 2003.
Sadly, Stefan neglected his own health while taking care of me, and in November of 2002 was diagnosed with metastasized colon cancer. The cancer had spread to his liver and abdomen. He was put on chemotherapy and several experimental treatments and we had 18 months of love and life together (trips to France, kayaking in Alaska, his 60th birthday bash and participating in Becca’s wedding). Stefan died at home on August 15, 2004, just shy of our 38th wedding anniversary.
I recovered my health and began a new phase of my life, moving to Stoneybrook, finding a wonderful new partner, Red Rocha, and taking up a new passion, golf, when I couldn’t play tennis any longer. I remained cancer free until last fall.
In December 2008, two new growths showed up on my CT/PET scans. They were surgically removed and proved to be metastasized melanoma. Two successive scans have shown new tumors, two of which have been removed and one cannot be removed surgically: so, continued surgery is now not a viable option.
What most of you probably know is that melanoma cells are the cancer cells most resistant to existing chemotherapy. Many of the new therapies that seemed so promising five years ago have not proven to be effective. My oncologist and I are faced with the difficult decision of how to proceed. For those of you interested in learning more about melanoma and its treatment, I highly recommend the Melanoma Research Foundation Website at http://www.melanoma.org/.
