My father was diagnosed with Melanoma in 1999. At that time he had a Clark's 4 stage IIB melanoma, I think. A couple of his lymph nodes were removed at that time along with a large excision from his back. He was clear all the way through his 5 year check-up.
My father was diagnosed with Melanoma in 1999. At that time he had a Clark's 4 stage IIB melanoma, I think. A couple of his lymph nodes were removed at that time along with a large excision from his back. He was clear all the way through his 5 year check-up.
Fast forward to this year. About 3 months ago he was having some lower back pain that he felt might have been kidney stones so he went to his urologist and was cleared of that. The pain then migrated to his mid back on the left hand side and he felt that he really needed to do something about it because it was beginning to be unbearable. At that time a chest x-ray was taken and the results showed a mass. From there the accelerator pedal has been pushed to the floor. He went through the PET scan to discover that he had lesions all over his body mostly concentrated to his bones. He also has cells in one of the lymph nodes in his chest. He is in Stage IV now. He has had a complication that we were not expecting; he broke the top part of his pelvic bone while rotating to get out of the car about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Radiation was started yesterday so we are hoping for good results and possibly some pain relief from this process. He is BRAF-. He is also slated to start Yervoy sometime this week or next. The oncologist that he has is wonderful and I would highly recommend him to anyone in the Charlotte, NC area. His name is Asim Amin.
So now that you have a little background on what is going on I am looking for information from other patients or family members that have a similar spread of cancer. Most of the people that I have read about have a soft tissue spread. Also, my interest in this whole process is about my future. I have had 20+ dysplastic nevi removed and I am concerned about the chances of Melanoma happening to me. I am here for any information that anyone is willing to provide because I have a firm belief that knowledge important in a time like this. I will be passing everything on to my father and mother.
Thank you!
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