Just an update on my husband who moved from Stage IIIC to Stage 4 last May. He had a tumor wrapped around his spine that was resected. He then had radiation and ipilimumab after that. One of his treatments was delayed due to some bowel issues and the need to go on steroids for a week or so but he got all four in.
His PET scan in October showed some areas that were lit up (shoulder, thighs) – none too significantly – and the oncologist was hopeful that that was his body's immune system attacking those free-ranging cancer cells. He had his last PET Jan. 28. We didn't get the report but the onc called to say they need to do an upper GI/small bowel through to evaluate small bowel wall thickening. Everything else that was lit up before looks all clear.
I'm being cautiously optimistic. I'm wondering if what's lit up on his PET could be some ulcerative colitis or something like that as opposed to a return of the melanoma. My husband previously had been on the MAVIS vaccine trial and every now and then (almost cyclical in nature) those "bumps" where he got the vaccine trial flare up and itch like crazy. Sometimes they turn purple too – and his vaccine shots ended almost a year ago! (This kind of reaction happened during his ipi treatments too. His tattoos also had a weird reaction to the ipi – search "tattoos" in the MPIP search field to read about that!) He also has some transient bowel issues when that happens. (Wondering if that's his body's immune system ramping up.)
Anyway, I'll post an update tomorrow or Wednesday. But if anybody has any insight (i.e., had small bowel issue on PET that then got the all clear) – feel free to comment away. Meanwhile, if you can spare some prayers and/or good vibes – I'll take those too. I'm really hoping he's an ipi success story that I can soon share with you all.
Take care,
Kimberly
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