Decisions and Possible Surgery

Tomorrow afternoon Danny and I will meet with my oncology surgeon to discuss having my painful surface tumor(s) removed. We would appreciate prayers as we communicate with him and also hopefully will be able to talk to my main oncologist about our plan moving forward. We want to make sure that surgery doesn’t prevent my entering any trials nor do we want to delay further treatment and allow melanoma to gain footing while I recover from surgery. It does encourage us that both of my oncologists (surgical and melanoma specialist) feel that my disease is stable enough for me to take a treatment break to have this surgery. We believe removing these tumors will lessen my chronic pain and improve some quality of life issues. Please pray for wisdom and clarity for both of my doctors as well as Danny and me. Also, please pray that my main oncologist would be available to step in and consult with us during this appointment. I am so blessed to be treated at my clinic where the doctors work so closely together. Thank you all!

It was a good ride Lambrolizumab (Anti-pd1)

One month ago I had my first set of scans since beginning my anti-pd1 trial. Those scans weren’t horrible, but they did show some slow growth in my tumors. My oncologist decided to allow me to receive two more doses of the medication and then rescan me after a month to see if my tumors continued to grow or if my immune system would kick in and the scans might show shrinking tumors.

Today I had my second set of scans and my oncologist called me with the results soon after. My tumors are mostly stable except for the one in my groin which has grown. This is the one that causes me to need pain killers all the time, too. Stinker! Unfortunately, although it is not official yet, it looks like this is the end of the trial for me. It is bittersweet because I did show an initial response to the treatment so we really thought this was going to be the drug that would be the solution for me. On the other hand, being out of the trial will allow me to  have this painful groin tumor surgically removed. In the middle of typing that last sentence, my surgical oncologist called to set up an appointment with him for next week. So, sounds like that tumor is going bye-bye! Yay! I will most likely also see my main oncologist next week to decide what the plan is going forward. Continued prayers are appreciated as we make decisions about my next treatment. For now, Danny and I are going on a trip and I am under doctor’s orders to not think about cancer for the weekend!