First Post

Welcome, Samuel, and thank you for taking the time to post and to complete a profile. That will really help us to help you in the future, should you need it. 

I am impressed that you are smart enough to realize that the Internet is NOT a good place to get reliable information about melanoma. The vast majority of information on the web is either out of date, incorrect or both. Lots of scare stories, lots of fake cures…little solid science. It is true that for decades, there was little that doctors could do for advanced melanoma. But just in the last 3 or 4 years, several new medical break-throughs have happened and more are in the pipeline. So the survival statistics you see on the web no longer apply. The prognosis for melanoma patients is much, much better than it was even 4 or 5 years ago and we hope and expect that things will continue to improve.

I note that you live in Canada. Quite a few of our members are Canadian. However, most of us are in the States and we are not all that familiar with the Canadian healthcare system or which drugs and clinical trials are approved in Canada versus approved here. In addition to this MPIP site, you might also want to check out the Melanoma International Foundation forum. As the name implies, they have members from all over the world and that group, too, provides up-to-date information. The MIF website also has some very helpful and informative webinars about the newest advances and treatments for melanoma, so you might view those when you have time.  

I am sorry that you have to go through this very frightening and stressful time. But you have good reasons to remain upbeat and optimistic about your future. The two things that I would recommend you do is to: 1) get yourself to a melanoma specialty center as soon as possible– one where they have a whole team of doctors from various specialties who have a lot of experience with melanoma, and 2) do whatever you can through diet and exercise to keep yourself and your immune system healthy. Your best defense against melanoma is your own immune system. Lots of fruits and veggies, cool it on the fats and sugars, etc. If you want to take ANY nutritional supplements to boost your immune system, please discuss it with your oncologist first. Even "all natural" supplements can interfere with your treatment or even cause a toxic reaction. Proceed with caution.

Welcome, Samuel, and thank you for taking the time to post and to complete a profile. That will really help us to help you in the future, should you need it. 

I am impressed that you are smart enough to realize that the Internet is NOT a good place to get reliable information about melanoma. The vast majority of information on the web is either out of date, incorrect or both. Lots of scare stories, lots of fake cures…little solid science. It is true that for decades, there was little that doctors could do for advanced melanoma. But just in the last 3 or 4 years, several new medical break-throughs have happened and more are in the pipeline. So the survival statistics you see on the web no longer apply. The prognosis for melanoma patients is much, much better than it was even 4 or 5 years ago and we hope and expect that things will continue to improve.

I note that you live in Canada. Quite a few of our members are Canadian. However, most of us are in the States and we are not all that familiar with the Canadian healthcare system or which drugs and clinical trials are approved in Canada versus approved here. In addition to this MPIP site, you might also want to check out the Melanoma International Foundation forum. As the name implies, they have members from all over the world and that group, too, provides up-to-date information. The MIF website also has some very helpful and informative webinars about the newest advances and treatments for melanoma, so you might view those when you have time.  

I am sorry that you have to go through this very frightening and stressful time. But you have good reasons to remain upbeat and optimistic about your future. The two things that I would recommend you do is to: 1) get yourself to a melanoma specialty center as soon as possible– one where they have a whole team of doctors from various specialties who have a lot of experience with melanoma, and 2) do whatever you can through diet and exercise to keep yourself and your immune system healthy. Your best defense against melanoma is your own immune system. Lots of fruits and veggies, cool it on the fats and sugars, etc. If you want to take ANY nutritional supplements to boost your immune system, please discuss it with your oncologist first. Even "all natural" supplements can interfere with your treatment or even cause a toxic reaction. Proceed with caution.

Welcome, Samuel, and thank you for taking the time to post and to complete a profile. That will really help us to help you in the future, should you need it. 

I am impressed that you are smart enough to realize that the Internet is NOT a good place to get reliable information about melanoma. The vast majority of information on the web is either out of date, incorrect or both. Lots of scare stories, lots of fake cures…little solid science. It is true that for decades, there was little that doctors could do for advanced melanoma. But just in the last 3 or 4 years, several new medical break-throughs have happened and more are in the pipeline. So the survival statistics you see on the web no longer apply. The prognosis for melanoma patients is much, much better than it was even 4 or 5 years ago and we hope and expect that things will continue to improve.

I note that you live in Canada. Quite a few of our members are Canadian. However, most of us are in the States and we are not all that familiar with the Canadian healthcare system or which drugs and clinical trials are approved in Canada versus approved here. In addition to this MPIP site, you might also want to check out the Melanoma International Foundation forum. As the name implies, they have members from all over the world and that group, too, provides up-to-date information. The MIF website also has some very helpful and informative webinars about the newest advances and treatments for melanoma, so you might view those when you have time.  

I am sorry that you have to go through this very frightening and stressful time. But you have good reasons to remain upbeat and optimistic about your future. The two things that I would recommend you do is to: 1) get yourself to a melanoma specialty center as soon as possible– one where they have a whole team of doctors from various specialties who have a lot of experience with melanoma, and 2) do whatever you can through diet and exercise to keep yourself and your immune system healthy. Your best defense against melanoma is your own immune system. Lots of fruits and veggies, cool it on the fats and sugars, etc. If you want to take ANY nutritional supplements to boost your immune system, please discuss it with your oncologist first. Even "all natural" supplements can interfere with your treatment or even cause a toxic reaction. Proceed with caution.

Hi Samuel,

Welcome to the forum, a place you never wanted to be.  Hopefully you are now through the worse of it and and breath a little easier.  Now it time to just think about taking care of yourself and doing follow-ups.  You'll get lots of good advice here.  Mostly the standard:  safe sun, regular skin checks, good food, ect.

What I want to let you know is that there is plenty of hope.  I am stage 3a also.  You can read my profile.  I am over 3 years with No Evidence of Disease(NED) now.  I have pretty much lived my life the way I always did except for sun and check-up and a few added supplements (Vit D being the big one). 

One thought is that if they will do it in Canada, to have your tumor analyze for any genetic mutations.  It's just an insurance policy right now, but if the worse happens and the is anothe occurance it will save you precious time in treatment.

Good Luck,

Mary

Hi Samuel,

Welcome to the forum, a place you never wanted to be.  Hopefully you are now through the worse of it and and breath a little easier.  Now it time to just think about taking care of yourself and doing follow-ups.  You'll get lots of good advice here.  Mostly the standard:  safe sun, regular skin checks, good food, ect.

What I want to let you know is that there is plenty of hope.  I am stage 3a also.  You can read my profile.  I am over 3 years with No Evidence of Disease(NED) now.  I have pretty much lived my life the way I always did except for sun and check-up and a few added supplements (Vit D being the big one). 

One thought is that if they will do it in Canada, to have your tumor analyze for any genetic mutations.  It's just an insurance policy right now, but if the worse happens and the is anothe occurance it will save you precious time in treatment.

Good Luck,

Mary

Hi Samuel,

Welcome to the forum, a place you never wanted to be.  Hopefully you are now through the worse of it and and breath a little easier.  Now it time to just think about taking care of yourself and doing follow-ups.  You'll get lots of good advice here.  Mostly the standard:  safe sun, regular skin checks, good food, ect.

What I want to let you know is that there is plenty of hope.  I am stage 3a also.  You can read my profile.  I am over 3 years with No Evidence of Disease(NED) now.  I have pretty much lived my life the way I always did except for sun and check-up and a few added supplements (Vit D being the big one). 

One thought is that if they will do it in Canada, to have your tumor analyze for any genetic mutations.  It's just an insurance policy right now, but if the worse happens and the is anothe occurance it will save you precious time in treatment.

Good Luck,

Mary

Well, sorry to need to welcoome you.   Don't know if you know Joan Robinson, from BC.  Herhusband died fromMelanoma in 2001 and and she has worked hard in Canada to draw attention to the dismalnsstate of affairs for mela noma patients.  In the late 2000's she said there were NO Melanoma specialists iin BC.  At that time (Pre IPI) IL-2 was the only treatment outside of surgery that stood a chance of having any real success against melanomaa.  It was not offered in Canada, because it must be given in a hospital setting.  The did not have beds availble for treating melanoma patients.  Two years ago she had a Canadian laady contact me.that was at exactly the same point I had been at in over 6 years ago.  She was told that noothing cojuld be done for her, tp go home.  I hope there has been some improvement their since then.  Joan may be able to help you if you can contact her.  She is a very nice lady.  WE will do what we can to help you.  AS you have kearned this bvoard and community, developed by Jeff Patterson is a great place of carring people to help one learn.

     Good l;uck.

Well, sorry to need to welcoome you.   Don't know if you know Joan Robinson, from BC.  Herhusband died fromMelanoma in 2001 and and she has worked hard in Canada to draw attention to the dismalnsstate of affairs for mela noma patients.  In the late 2000's she said there were NO Melanoma specialists iin BC.  At that time (Pre IPI) IL-2 was the only treatment outside of surgery that stood a chance of having any real success against melanomaa.  It was not offered in Canada, because it must be given in a hospital setting.  The did not have beds availble for treating melanoma patients.  Two years ago she had a Canadian laady contact me.that was at exactly the same point I had been at in over 6 years ago.  She was told that noothing cojuld be done for her, tp go home.  I hope there has been some improvement their since then.  Joan may be able to help you if you can contact her.  She is a very nice lady.  WE will do what we can to help you.  AS you have kearned this bvoard and community, developed by Jeff Patterson is a great place of carring people to help one learn.

     Good l;uck.

Well, sorry to need to welcoome you.   Don't know if you know Joan Robinson, from BC.  Herhusband died fromMelanoma in 2001 and and she has worked hard in Canada to draw attention to the dismalnsstate of affairs for mela noma patients.  In the late 2000's she said there were NO Melanoma specialists iin BC.  At that time (Pre IPI) IL-2 was the only treatment outside of surgery that stood a chance of having any real success against melanomaa.  It was not offered in Canada, because it must be given in a hospital setting.  The did not have beds availble for treating melanoma patients.  Two years ago she had a Canadian laady contact me.that was at exactly the same point I had been at in over 6 years ago.  She was told that noothing cojuld be done for her, tp go home.  I hope there has been some improvement their since then.  Joan may be able to help you if you can contact her.  She is a very nice lady.  WE will do what we can to help you.  AS you have kearned this bvoard and community, developed by Jeff Patterson is a great place of carring people to help one learn.

     Good l;uck.

As far as I know, interferon is still the only FDA treatment approved for Stage III melanoma. Until recently, almost all clinicla trials in the States have been limited to Stage IV patients. However, a few clinical trials are now being offered for Stage III patients who are at high risk for recurrence (I don't know if you are considered "high risk" or not). But again, that is in the States; I don't know the clinical trial situation in Canada. Hopefully, your oncologist does know about Canadian clinical trials. Or maybe Canada has a web site like we have the clinicaltrials.gov web site. Or check clinicaltrials.gov, they may list Canadian trials sites, too.

Hi Samuel

My son was 21 when he was diagnosed 3A. He opted for the year of interferon…I know this is a personal decision but wanted to say too that I think youth is on your side if you decide to to that..as far as side effects, etc. It wasnt easy but he did the year while going to college full time.

He is now 25 and just hit 4 years NED (yay!). Who knows if interferon is a factor, we will probably never know.

I am glad to see you post. My son never really wanted to talk about it, even with friends, much less an internet forum like this. But I think that you will find emotional support here, as well as tons of useful information!!

Good luck, hoping all the other nodes are clear!

Becky

I was diagnosed in 2005 when a mole on my left calf started to change shape and bled. I had the surgery and had no more issues until 2012 when I found a lump by my knee, with a recurrence in the same area this year. I am now stage 3c, have completed the intensive interferon and radiation and will be starting the weekly injections next week. My message is that 8 years later I am going strong, I keep the faith that I can do this and will be around for years to come. Take care of yourself ! My motto is: you never know how strong you are until you have no other choice. (Author unknown).

I was diagnosed in 2005 when a mole on my left calf started to change shape and bled. I had the surgery and had no more issues until 2012 when I found a lump by my knee, with a recurrence in the same area this year. I am now stage 3c, have completed the intensive interferon and radiation and will be starting the weekly injections next week. My message is that 8 years later I am going strong, I keep the faith that I can do this and will be around for years to come. Take care of yourself ! My motto is: you never know how strong you are until you have no other choice. (Author unknown).

I was diagnosed in 2005 when a mole on my left calf started to change shape and bled. I had the surgery and had no more issues until 2012 when I found a lump by my knee, with a recurrence in the same area this year. I am now stage 3c, have completed the intensive interferon and radiation and will be starting the weekly injections next week. My message is that 8 years later I am going strong, I keep the faith that I can do this and will be around for years to come. Take care of yourself ! My motto is: you never know how strong you are until you have no other choice. (Author unknown).

As far as I know, interferon is still the only FDA treatment approved for Stage III melanoma. Until recently, almost all clinicla trials in the States have been limited to Stage IV patients. However, a few clinical trials are now being offered for Stage III patients who are at high risk for recurrence (I don't know if you are considered "high risk" or not). But again, that is in the States; I don't know the clinical trial situation in Canada. Hopefully, your oncologist does know about Canadian clinical trials. Or maybe Canada has a web site like we have the clinicaltrials.gov web site. Or check clinicaltrials.gov, they may list Canadian trials sites, too.

As far as I know, interferon is still the only FDA treatment approved for Stage III melanoma. Until recently, almost all clinicla trials in the States have been limited to Stage IV patients. However, a few clinical trials are now being offered for Stage III patients who are at high risk for recurrence (I don't know if you are considered "high risk" or not). But again, that is in the States; I don't know the clinical trial situation in Canada. Hopefully, your oncologist does know about Canadian clinical trials. Or maybe Canada has a web site like we have the clinicaltrials.gov web site. Or check clinicaltrials.gov, they may list Canadian trials sites, too.

Hi Samuel

My son was 21 when he was diagnosed 3A. He opted for the year of interferon…I know this is a personal decision but wanted to say too that I think youth is on your side if you decide to to that..as far as side effects, etc. It wasnt easy but he did the year while going to college full time.

He is now 25 and just hit 4 years NED (yay!). Who knows if interferon is a factor, we will probably never know.

I am glad to see you post. My son never really wanted to talk about it, even with friends, much less an internet forum like this. But I think that you will find emotional support here, as well as tons of useful information!!

Good luck, hoping all the other nodes are clear!

Becky

Hi Samuel

My son was 21 when he was diagnosed 3A. He opted for the year of interferon…I know this is a personal decision but wanted to say too that I think youth is on your side if you decide to to that..as far as side effects, etc. It wasnt easy but he did the year while going to college full time.

He is now 25 and just hit 4 years NED (yay!). Who knows if interferon is a factor, we will probably never know.

I am glad to see you post. My son never really wanted to talk about it, even with friends, much less an internet forum like this. But I think that you will find emotional support here, as well as tons of useful information!!

Good luck, hoping all the other nodes are clear!

Becky