bajohnson02

Hi, thank you for your response ! The 2 year treatment he said would be receiving treatment every 3 weeks for 3 months, then it would be once every 3  months til I reached the 2 year mark. That's awesome that the treatment relieved your bone pain, and that you tolerated it well.. What you mentioned regarding ipi being approved for stage 4 also is something I've given a lot of thought to. Maybe doing the watch and wait and if it did go to stage 4, then give it a try versus risking the side effects of it now. 

I now have another dilemma. I'll try to make this as brief as possible. Apparently my surgeon sent info to the melanoma specialist that I saw as well as spoke to the dr I received the other opinion from yesterday and has told them both only 1 lymph node showed micro involvement. I had the path report with me at both places and when the melanoma specialist said 1 node positive, I stopped him and showed him my path report which clearly states 2 nodes positive. He made the comment that I was correct in reading it that way, but also stated that doesn't change anything on his end as far as treatment. 

When I went to the 2nd oncologist yesterday, he had spoken with my surgeon on the phone and was going over what they discussed,he then mentioned 1 node involvement, I again stopped this dr and showed him my path report. He agreed it clearly stated 2 nodes. But for this dr, he said it does change his recommendation. He said when my surgeon told him only one node he did not agree with the Yervoy, but now that it's 2 nodes it changes his decision and he would also agree with the melanoma specialist and recommend Yervoy. 

He also said he was going to call the pathologist that did my report and clarify if one or two nodes. So the dr just called to say he had spoken with the pathologist and he said the issue with that was a node had been sent in to him split in half and so it was in both halves not 2 different nodes.. I find this a little strange. First of all if that were the case, why wouldn't he have stated that in the description area of the report.. Instead of allowing it to read 2/2 then says 2 out of 2 nodes positive. So now this new dr for the 2nd opinion goes back to his original decision that no Yervoy due to only involvement of one node. 

I go back to the melanoma specialist this Tuesday for the PET scan and to see him afterward to make a decision,I'll definitely let him know about what the pathologist said in reference to the nodes and see if it changes his opinion or not. But now I am even more confused… 

I do apologize for this being so long!!!! And I truly appreciate your kind words.. 

Hi, thank you for your response ! The 2 year treatment he said would be receiving treatment every 3 weeks for 3 months, then it would be once every 3  months til I reached the 2 year mark. That's awesome that the treatment relieved your bone pain, and that you tolerated it well.. What you mentioned regarding ipi being approved for stage 4 also is something I've given a lot of thought to. Maybe doing the watch and wait and if it did go to stage 4, then give it a try versus risking the side effects of it now. 

I now have another dilemma. I'll try to make this as brief as possible. Apparently my surgeon sent info to the melanoma specialist that I saw as well as spoke to the dr I received the other opinion from yesterday and has told them both only 1 lymph node showed micro involvement. I had the path report with me at both places and when the melanoma specialist said 1 node positive, I stopped him and showed him my path report which clearly states 2 nodes positive. He made the comment that I was correct in reading it that way, but also stated that doesn't change anything on his end as far as treatment. 

When I went to the 2nd oncologist yesterday, he had spoken with my surgeon on the phone and was going over what they discussed,he then mentioned 1 node involvement, I again stopped this dr and showed him my path report. He agreed it clearly stated 2 nodes. But for this dr, he said it does change his recommendation. He said when my surgeon told him only one node he did not agree with the Yervoy, but now that it's 2 nodes it changes his decision and he would also agree with the melanoma specialist and recommend Yervoy. 

He also said he was going to call the pathologist that did my report and clarify if one or two nodes. So the dr just called to say he had spoken with the pathologist and he said the issue with that was a node had been sent in to him split in half and so it was in both halves not 2 different nodes.. I find this a little strange. First of all if that were the case, why wouldn't he have stated that in the description area of the report.. Instead of allowing it to read 2/2 then says 2 out of 2 nodes positive. So now this new dr for the 2nd opinion goes back to his original decision that no Yervoy due to only involvement of one node. 

I go back to the melanoma specialist this Tuesday for the PET scan and to see him afterward to make a decision,I'll definitely let him know about what the pathologist said in reference to the nodes and see if it changes his opinion or not. But now I am even more confused… 

I do apologize for this being so long!!!! And I truly appreciate your kind words.. 

Hi, thank you for your response ! The 2 year treatment he said would be receiving treatment every 3 weeks for 3 months, then it would be once every 3  months til I reached the 2 year mark. That's awesome that the treatment relieved your bone pain, and that you tolerated it well.. What you mentioned regarding ipi being approved for stage 4 also is something I've given a lot of thought to. Maybe doing the watch and wait and if it did go to stage 4, then give it a try versus risking the side effects of it now. 

I now have another dilemma. I'll try to make this as brief as possible. Apparently my surgeon sent info to the melanoma specialist that I saw as well as spoke to the dr I received the other opinion from yesterday and has told them both only 1 lymph node showed micro involvement. I had the path report with me at both places and when the melanoma specialist said 1 node positive, I stopped him and showed him my path report which clearly states 2 nodes positive. He made the comment that I was correct in reading it that way, but also stated that doesn't change anything on his end as far as treatment. 

When I went to the 2nd oncologist yesterday, he had spoken with my surgeon on the phone and was going over what they discussed,he then mentioned 1 node involvement, I again stopped this dr and showed him my path report. He agreed it clearly stated 2 nodes. But for this dr, he said it does change his recommendation. He said when my surgeon told him only one node he did not agree with the Yervoy, but now that it's 2 nodes it changes his decision and he would also agree with the melanoma specialist and recommend Yervoy. 

He also said he was going to call the pathologist that did my report and clarify if one or two nodes. So the dr just called to say he had spoken with the pathologist and he said the issue with that was a node had been sent in to him split in half and so it was in both halves not 2 different nodes.. I find this a little strange. First of all if that were the case, why wouldn't he have stated that in the description area of the report.. Instead of allowing it to read 2/2 then says 2 out of 2 nodes positive. So now this new dr for the 2nd opinion goes back to his original decision that no Yervoy due to only involvement of one node. 

I go back to the melanoma specialist this Tuesday for the PET scan and to see him afterward to make a decision,I'll definitely let him know about what the pathologist said in reference to the nodes and see if it changes his opinion or not. But now I am even more confused… 

I do apologize for this being so long!!!! And I truly appreciate your kind words.. 

Hi Paul.. thanks so much for your reply! I hope all is still going well for you now. It’s a scary time when you hear that kind of news. I did call yesterday to schedule an appointment at the Brown Cancer Center thats about an hour from where I live. They were already so much more compassionate and caring just over the phone compared to my few visits with the oncologist that done my surgery. The lady I spoke with seemed very surprised I had not had any scans done at all, so hopefully if they do one, it will bring me some peace. Again, thank you for your response, it’s greatly appreciated!

Hi Paul.. thanks so much for your reply! I hope all is still going well for you now. It’s a scary time when you hear that kind of news. I did call yesterday to schedule an appointment at the Brown Cancer Center thats about an hour from where I live. They were already so much more compassionate and caring just over the phone compared to my few visits with the oncologist that done my surgery. The lady I spoke with seemed very surprised I had not had any scans done at all, so hopefully if they do one, it will bring me some peace. Again, thank you for your response, it’s greatly appreciated!

Hi Paul.. thanks so much for your reply! I hope all is still going well for you now. It’s a scary time when you hear that kind of news. I did call yesterday to schedule an appointment at the Brown Cancer Center thats about an hour from where I live. They were already so much more compassionate and caring just over the phone compared to my few visits with the oncologist that done my surgery. The lady I spoke with seemed very surprised I had not had any scans done at all, so hopefully if they do one, it will bring me some peace. Again, thank you for your response, it’s greatly appreciated!

Hello to everyone! I want to thank all of you for your responses, it’s been very helpful hearing from all of you.. I have been wanting to get back on here to respond and update. I had the WLE and sentinel lymph node biopsy done last Wednesday. It’s been so hard waiting for the results which I finally got today at my one week follow up with my oncology surgeon. The Dr said I have clear margins in the primary melanoma they removed from the top of my foot. However the lymph node biopsy from my groin area came back positive, the Dr said it was a small amount in 2 lymph nodes. He felt confident that he got it all, & he said this puts me at stage 3a. He said basically we just do check ups every 6 months and go from there. He’s not the most informative Dr to talk to and although he may be a great oncologist he left me feeling very unsure of the situation. I am thankful that he seemed positive and maybe I should just be grateful and let it go.. but my question to all of you is should I be or have already had a scan done to see if spreading has occurred anywhere else? He never mentioned it and neither did I, but I am wondering if I should be doing anything else to be proactive for my own health in regards to this, or is this all I should expect at this time. I am sorry for the long post and appreciate any info you can provide. .

Hello to everyone! I want to thank all of you for your responses, it’s been very helpful hearing from all of you.. I have been wanting to get back on here to respond and update. I had the WLE and sentinel lymph node biopsy done last Wednesday. It’s been so hard waiting for the results which I finally got today at my one week follow up with my oncology surgeon. The Dr said I have clear margins in the primary melanoma they removed from the top of my foot. However the lymph node biopsy from my groin area came back positive, the Dr said it was a small amount in 2 lymph nodes. He felt confident that he got it all, & he said this puts me at stage 3a. He said basically we just do check ups every 6 months and go from there. He’s not the most informative Dr to talk to and although he may be a great oncologist he left me feeling very unsure of the situation. I am thankful that he seemed positive and maybe I should just be grateful and let it go.. but my question to all of you is should I be or have already had a scan done to see if spreading has occurred anywhere else? He never mentioned it and neither did I, but I am wondering if I should be doing anything else to be proactive for my own health in regards to this, or is this all I should expect at this time. I am sorry for the long post and appreciate any info you can provide. .

Hello to everyone! I want to thank all of you for your responses, it’s been very helpful hearing from all of you.. I have been wanting to get back on here to respond and update. I had the WLE and sentinel lymph node biopsy done last Wednesday. It’s been so hard waiting for the results which I finally got today at my one week follow up with my oncology surgeon. The Dr said I have clear margins in the primary melanoma they removed from the top of my foot. However the lymph node biopsy from my groin area came back positive, the Dr said it was a small amount in 2 lymph nodes. He felt confident that he got it all, & he said this puts me at stage 3a. He said basically we just do check ups every 6 months and go from there. He’s not the most informative Dr to talk to and although he may be a great oncologist he left me feeling very unsure of the situation. I am thankful that he seemed positive and maybe I should just be grateful and let it go.. but my question to all of you is should I be or have already had a scan done to see if spreading has occurred anywhere else? He never mentioned it and neither did I, but I am wondering if I should be doing anything else to be proactive for my own health in regards to this, or is this all I should expect at this time. I am sorry for the long post and appreciate any info you can provide. .

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, as well as the poitive encouragement.. it's much needed right now due to my lack of knowledge in this area and feeling like I have no idea how to react since receiving the news. I feel like i am in a world of my own now because I don't want to worry my adult children or my family until I know more about where I stand as far as staging and such. So, I keep my thougths and fear to myself and feel like everything is falling around me. But, it seems in the short amount of time that I have been diagnosed, it has consumed my every thought. The not knowing, I suppose and the what if's.. I am trying to keep my thoughts positive and stay busy to not think about it, but it is very difficult. Again, thank you for responding.. I will anxiously await until my visit and pray for positive results…   

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, as well as the poitive encouragement.. it's much needed right now due to my lack of knowledge in this area and feeling like I have no idea how to react since receiving the news. I feel like i am in a world of my own now because I don't want to worry my adult children or my family until I know more about where I stand as far as staging and such. So, I keep my thougths and fear to myself and feel like everything is falling around me. But, it seems in the short amount of time that I have been diagnosed, it has consumed my every thought. The not knowing, I suppose and the what if's.. I am trying to keep my thoughts positive and stay busy to not think about it, but it is very difficult. Again, thank you for responding.. I will anxiously await until my visit and pray for positive results…   

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, as well as the poitive encouragement.. it's much needed right now due to my lack of knowledge in this area and feeling like I have no idea how to react since receiving the news. I feel like i am in a world of my own now because I don't want to worry my adult children or my family until I know more about where I stand as far as staging and such. So, I keep my thougths and fear to myself and feel like everything is falling around me. But, it seems in the short amount of time that I have been diagnosed, it has consumed my every thought. The not knowing, I suppose and the what if's.. I am trying to keep my thoughts positive and stay busy to not think about it, but it is very difficult. Again, thank you for responding.. I will anxiously await until my visit and pray for positive results…