I've been on this board since my diagnosis but have only posted a couple of times. I hope you find this motivating.
I was diagnosed last April 19 with stage IV metastatic melanoma, 1 large tumor 8.5cm x 4.5cm on my left adrenal gland and a small 1.1cm nodule on my right lower lung. Further testing showed I was BRAF +. At diagnosis I started my research and adjusted my supplements based on that research (just in case) to a daily multi-vitamin, Curcumin, Miatake-D, Resveratol, and an extra 1000mg of vitamin D. In May of last year I started the Yervoy/Opdivo combo and was able to take all 4 doses at 3 week intervals. On my second scan after the 4 rounds of the combo the tumor had reduced at 4.5cm and no change in the lung. I started Opdivo maintenance at that point continuing every 3 weeks. I really had few side effects during the initial treatments but around Halloween they started, a rash, taste went haywire, loss of saliva production, sore joints and muscles and severe fatigue. Most of those have been taken care of by prednisone. I had another follow up scan at the end of January and the adrenal tumor was basically stable from the prior scan and a consult with a surgeon was made as they felt it had reduced enough to resect without damaging other organs (other than the adrenal gland). I had the surgery on 3/23. Today I went for the follow up with the surgeon and got the pathology reports. The report stated "Adrenal Gland with necrosis, fibrosis, chronic inflamation, focal granulomatous inflamation, and hemosiderin-laden macrophages." But most importantly… "No Malignant Melanoma Identified."
It appears the immunotherapy did it's job, and although I know it's a-typical results has allowed my body to kill the active cancer cells and left the structure. This had never crossed my mind, I was planning on radiation follow ups. I wanted to share because I know good news is often hard to come by with this disease, but it can happen, does happen and keep fighting because we are more than the disease!
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