Getting set for chemo portion of TIL trial — and a new wrinkle appears

The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Content within the patient forum is user-generated and has not been reviewed by medical professionals. Other sections of the Melanoma Research Foundation website include information that has been reviewed by medical professionals as appropriate. All medical decisions should be made in consultation with your doctor or other qualified medical professional.

Getting set for chemo portion of TIL trial — and a new wrinkle appears

This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 1 month ago by CancerSpouse.

Post

- March 21, 2018 at 4:34 pm
- Quote
mrsaxde
Participant
I hope anybody who is in the path of the latest nor'easter is enjoying watching the snow as much as I am from my room at NIH. I know it's creating havoc on the roads but it's beautiful.

So the chemo starts on Friday afternoon, as long as my cells are confirmed to be ready when they do the final check. This morning I was presented with the latest bump in the road: I now have a brain met.

Fortunately one small brain met doesn't disqualify me from this trial. Drs. Shindorf and Yang explained to me this morning what was up. The met is about 3mm, on my cerebellum. Dr. Yang said that due to the nature of melanoma, sometimes brain mets respond to cell therapy. If it does not, he says it is in an area that would be easy to reach via surgery, or it could be treated with radiation, with what he said is about a 95% success rate. He did feel that surgery would be the better option if needed because it wouldn't leave behind any dead tissue.

So we're moving ahead, and we'll tackle that bump if and when we need to. Now back to watching the snow.

-Bill

Viewing 2 reply threads

Replies

- - March 21, 2018 at 5:13 pm
  - Quote
  Bubbles
  Participant
  Shoot fire, Bill!!! Melanoma is such a B!!!! I think what your docs said sounds reasonable. Been there listened to that. It was always so creepy to know what melanoma was up to inside me!!! Sorry.
  
  Still, glad things are pretty much set to go on Friday. And thanks for the pretty picture you painted. Though I do not have anything more than a few flurries here in TN, I wil enjoy your view.
  
  Hang in there and keep us posted! Love,c
- - March 21, 2018 at 5:53 pm
  - Quote
  rosa1
  Participant
  Keep fighting! Wishing you the best. Keep us informed.
  
  Rosa
- - March 22, 2018 at 1:05 am
  - Quote
  CancerSpouse
  Participant
  Bill, I'm sorry to hear about the latest setback and hope, as your docs indicated, that it will be managed with relative ease. Please do keep us posted on the therapy. I always look forward to your updates. Meantime, enjoy the view, which sounds so much more preferable to my current view of rainy rush hour traffic in LA, where no one knows how to drive in the rain. Best of luck on Friday, Carol

Viewing 2 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

The MRF Patient Forum is the oldest and largest online community of people affected by melanoma. It is designed to provide peer support and information to caregivers, patients, family and friends. There is no better place to discuss different parts of your journey with this cancer and find the friends and support resources to make that journey more bearable.

The information on the forum is open and accessible to everyone. To add a new topic or to post a reply, you must be a registered user. Please note that you will be able to post both topics and replies anonymously even though you are logged in. All posts must abide by MRF posting policies.