Well its been some time since I've written here and so much has happened over the past year. To shorten what is most relevant, most of you know that Norma had a malignant melanoma lesion on the bottom of her foot. On December 30, 2016 she underwent surgery to remove it. They also took two sentiental lymph nodes and they were found to have melanoma cells as well but were a very small amount. After the foot somewhat healed she had a PET scan which showed "NED" (no evidence of disease in any other part of her body. Finally, some good news!
The surgeon then suggested that she have all her right side lymph groin nodes removed but that surgery was described as the "surgery from hell" and she would still have to go through immunotherapy. She decided against the surgery and opted for the therapy. We then learned that this particular therapy which is specifically for melanoma (there is no chemo for melanoma) was $40,000 a treatment and insurance was not going to cover it because she did not have the groin lymph nodes removed. We then learned that she was going to be put on a trial and she would get the treatment for free, so we were off to the first treatment knowing ahead of time there were many side effects possible. Well, you guessed it starting about two weeks after the treatment in what I would say has been the "side effects from hell" ride - she had a horrible reaction! She is still trying to get through them and will not be taking any more immunotherapy. So now it becomes a wait and see situation until the next PET scan which should be scheduled soon.. In the meantime we are staying in Georgia for the summer so she is closer to those knowledgeable of her case and we have been offered a house here on Jekyll for the summer, so we can get out of the trailer and spread our wings so to speak.
I will keep you posted!
1 comment:
WOW! Sending positive thoughts and vibes your way.
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