› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Good news trumps stress
- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 10 months ago by
dian in spokane.
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- February 5, 2011 at 12:34 am
The liver mets issue got dismissed late last year, which was great. Early in January during a routine derm check, the intern thought he felt a lump. I told him I thought it had been there; doctor said to keep an eye on it. Which I did, and a few days later made an appointment to be seen by my surgeon. I was still thinking scar tissue and maybe a little lymphadema. The surgeon's PA thought so too, but ordered an U/S, which was negative (for what that's worth).
The liver mets issue got dismissed late last year, which was great. Early in January during a routine derm check, the intern thought he felt a lump. I told him I thought it had been there; doctor said to keep an eye on it. Which I did, and a few days later made an appointment to be seen by my surgeon. I was still thinking scar tissue and maybe a little lymphadema. The surgeon's PA thought so too, but ordered an U/S, which was negative (for what that's worth). So last Monday on a regular checkup with my onco, he said I really needed a CT, and told me another patient had passed the U/S but had a bad node clear down in his back.
I'm a pretty calm, living in the moment kind of guy. But I'm in a fairly important stage, career-wise, with a lot going on and more transitions coming up, and I just was a mess the rest of the week. Wasn't scared, but mad that I might need more biopsies or surgeries. The CT yesterday was a barium fueled delight. This morning, due to weather, there was a skeleton crew at MDA in radiology, but I did get a call from my onco's nurse at 1pm saying that everything was normal.
While I don't drop in here very often, I wanted to share. I'm IIIb since December 2008, when a bad node was pulled; a month later I had 22 more pulled and all has been roses ever since. I take 2K mg of curcumin a day, and go to a lot of checkups at MDA, but mostly don't think on cancer too much. That's why I was surprised at the force that it grabbed me with.
There's not a point to this posting, although I suppose it's always good to read about someone with no recurrances for 2+ years. I needed to write this out. My wife is very supportive, but ultimately much more scared than I am that this might kill me, so there are some places I can't go with her.
Well, we may be done freezing in h-town tomorrow, and I'm going to put down 3 yards of decomposed granite and try to forget what a mess I was… Cheers and prayers to all of us.
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- February 5, 2011 at 12:47 am
Hi,
So glad everything turned out ok. Glad you posted as it is always good to hear people's updates, good or bad news or just venting. No-one knows better than us here at MPIP the fear melanoma strikes in our hearts. None of us want to hear we "might" have something to worry about, but we follow through and get the testing done, so we can deal with things hopefully while they are small and more manageable. All of us have family, whether that be a spouse, children, siblings, parents, friends…and we have a life…….and we want to LIVE!!! Of course this latest blip on your melanoma radar was unsettling……you dont want the rug pulled out from underneath you, have to stop working to deal with appointments or treatments, etc. And the mental stress is so unsettling, for you and your wife, who is helpless to fight your fight (physically speaking), but who can be of great support to you.
Many of us have lost jobs, had our incomes and finances drastically changed, seen the looks of dismay and sadness, and fear on our loved one's faces, felt the stab of panic in the pits of our bellies when we have the need for more testing or treatments. But we strive to keep going, to treat our individual melanoma cancer as we choose, with different approachs, clinical trials, standard treatments. This is our fight against the beast.
Keep up the good fight, there! Congrats!
Vermont_Donna, stage 3a, just finished infusion #4 of Ipi
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- February 5, 2011 at 12:47 am
Hi,
So glad everything turned out ok. Glad you posted as it is always good to hear people's updates, good or bad news or just venting. No-one knows better than us here at MPIP the fear melanoma strikes in our hearts. None of us want to hear we "might" have something to worry about, but we follow through and get the testing done, so we can deal with things hopefully while they are small and more manageable. All of us have family, whether that be a spouse, children, siblings, parents, friends…and we have a life…….and we want to LIVE!!! Of course this latest blip on your melanoma radar was unsettling……you dont want the rug pulled out from underneath you, have to stop working to deal with appointments or treatments, etc. And the mental stress is so unsettling, for you and your wife, who is helpless to fight your fight (physically speaking), but who can be of great support to you.
Many of us have lost jobs, had our incomes and finances drastically changed, seen the looks of dismay and sadness, and fear on our loved one's faces, felt the stab of panic in the pits of our bellies when we have the need for more testing or treatments. But we strive to keep going, to treat our individual melanoma cancer as we choose, with different approachs, clinical trials, standard treatments. This is our fight against the beast.
Keep up the good fight, there! Congrats!
Vermont_Donna, stage 3a, just finished infusion #4 of Ipi
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- February 5, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Hi Drew – I understand about the need to talk outside of family because my husband has also has a really hard time with the idea of losing me. Fortunately I have a great counselor who is a cancer survivor and friends who manage to listen without letting it terrify them. It's essential to have those talking resources!
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- February 5, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Hi Drew – I understand about the need to talk outside of family because my husband has also has a really hard time with the idea of losing me. Fortunately I have a great counselor who is a cancer survivor and friends who manage to listen without letting it terrify them. It's essential to have those talking resources!
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- February 5, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Hi Drew!
It's always nice to hear from someone who's not been around for a while, especially when they are here with GOOD news! Sometimes, people leave and we never know what has become of them.
I'm glad things are still going great with you.
dian in spokane
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- February 5, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Hi Drew!
It's always nice to hear from someone who's not been around for a while, especially when they are here with GOOD news! Sometimes, people leave and we never know what has become of them.
I'm glad things are still going great with you.
dian in spokane
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