Hey y’all,
I don’t post too often anymore, but I just read Celeste’s charge to post good stories. Here’s mine….
The quick rundown: I was Stage 1 in 2013. While I was pregnant, it came back. Multiple lymph nodes tested positive for melanoma but I refused to have scans with radiation during pregnancy. After so many uncertainties, I delivered a perfect baby boy in December 2014. Seven days later I learned my melanoma spread to my liver, lungs, spine, and subcutaneously all over my body.
First I went to a large provider in the Midwest. They put me on traditional chemo. It was like fertilizer and my cancer spread. My team told me I should, “Spend what time I had left with my family.” My son was 6 weeks and my daughter was 2 years old.
Because of the people on this board, I switched my care to MD Anderson. I went on the (then) Ipi/Nivo trial. I made it through 3/4 infusions and was devastated I didn’t get the fourth. It didn’t matter – my scans showed I had 95% tumor reduction. Nine months after beginning the trial I received NED status. In March 2017 I completed 2 years of Nivo and have been healthy since.
I received a call from MDA last week and they want me to enter another trial; this time they are going to study me! (I’ve always wondered why they weren’t looking at folks for whom these treatments have worked.) Here is my non-medical explanation: Long story short, I will donate my “healthy” gut bacteria (through stool samples). They will give my bacteria to patients who do not have that bacteria and see if that makes a difference.
I feel lucky to live life and to give back. I hope this works.
Side note: My daughter is almost 7. She loves reading and gymnastics. My son is 4 but will be 5 in December. He’s the kindest person I know. Since my diagnosis, I’ve finished grad school and now my husband is entering it. We’ve traveled throughout the US and Europe, and even purchased a lake cabin.
Well, there you go. Blessings to everyone. Keep on keeping on!
Ashley
.
