emilypen's Profile

Dec. 08. Biopsy of upper left chest mole, diagnoses melanoma
Jan. 09 Sentinal node biopsy - 2 nodes positive for melanoma
Feb 09 - all lymphnodes in upper left chest and arm removed. - no further melanoma found, all scans/tests clear.
April - June09 - High dose Interferon treatment.

May 10 - biopsy on what is thought to be a cyst in Jason's right jaw
June 10 - admitted to hospital for chest pain, chest x-ray finds a tumor in his upper left chest area. 2.3 x 3.6 x 3.8 cm
Further scans CT and MRI find a further 4 lytic lesions :
2 x 1.9 lytic destructive lesion at the T11 vertebral body
2.2 x 1.9 cm lytic destructive lesion at L3 vertebral body
2.4 x 2.4 cm lesion at right side of the sacrum
1.5 x 0.7 cm lucent lesion within the left 6th rib posteriorly.

June 10 - BRAF positive
June 10 - entered Roche B-Raf trial randomized to DTIC
July 10 - 2 courses of Dacarbazine - no effect

Sept 10 - entered Novartis clinical trial, combo MEK & P13k inhibitor trial
Nov 10 - CT scan results "stable disease" absolutely no growth!
Jan 11 - side effects result in drug stoppage
Feb.11 - back on drug for 3 weeks
Feb.11 - scans show tumors have grown, compromising the spine, surgery schedule, taken off study
March 11 - recovering from surgery, stereostatic radiation to spine and sacrum for tumor reduction
March11 - start PLX 4032
June 11 - Drug no longer working, waiting to find out whats next.
July 7th - starting IPI trial today
August 20th - brain mets, WBR 10 treatments
Sept. 6th - 4th IPI , fingers crossed
Scans show progression everywhere, moving on to Carbo/taxol chemotherapy.
Brain mets controlled by WBR. Spine needs more radiation.
Suddenly paralyzed by tumour growth in spine. Dr's say we're done with treatment. Finally home from the hospital with great home hospice care.