carol b

Hello everyone, I am righting you all to let you know i am still alive. There is hope. I was DX in Dec 2010 with stage 4 mestatic melanoma. I joined this board soon after. I want to thank you all for all the information that i recieved on here. Me and my husband could not have made it without you. I finished 48 bags of IL2. I was given up to 3 months to live. The only treatment i was given was IL2. It was horrible but i survived it. It  made all my tumors dissapeare except the  baseball sized one under my arm. I had surgery and removed 90% of it. The IL2 is still keeping it at bay. My scans are clear but the Doc says there are microscopic cells that will always be there.  I had 12 rads to that area. The IL2 got rid of the ones on my lungs and my liver and the 6 golf balls i had in my neck above the collar bone.. No futher treatment was needed. March 2012 they founf tumor on the frontal lobe of my brain. Had that removed and 1 high dose of radiation. I have been basically melanoma free for 12 months now. I take it one day at a time. Im just wanting to let you all know that IL2 does work for some. I am a miracle. I am a 28 month survivor.!!! I stalk this page at least once a week. I dont post anything, i leave room for the newbees. Im old news..lol. Just remember there s hope. Never give up. I pray for love, peace happiness and healing for you all.

Thanks for allowing me to be part of your family,

I will never forget you,

Carol b

Hello everyone, I am righting you all to let you know i am still alive. There is hope. I was DX in Dec 2010 with stage 4 mestatic melanoma. I joined this board soon after. I want to thank you all for all the information that i recieved on here. Me and my husband could not have made it without you. I finished 48 bags of IL2. I was given up to 3 months to live. The only treatment i was given was IL2. It was horrible but i survived it. It  made all my tumors dissapeare except the  baseball sized one under my arm. I had surgery and removed 90% of it. The IL2 is still keeping it at bay. My scans are clear but the Doc says there are microscopic cells that will always be there.  I had 12 rads to that area. The IL2 got rid of the ones on my lungs and my liver and the 6 golf balls i had in my neck above the collar bone.. No futher treatment was needed. March 2012 they founf tumor on the frontal lobe of my brain. Had that removed and 1 high dose of radiation. I have been basically melanoma free for 12 months now. I take it one day at a time. Im just wanting to let you all know that IL2 does work for some. I am a miracle. I am a 28 month survivor.!!! I stalk this page at least once a week. I dont post anything, i leave room for the newbees. Im old news..lol. Just remember there s hope. Never give up. I pray for love, peace happiness and healing for you all.

Thanks for allowing me to be part of your family,

I will never forget you,

Carol b

Hello everyone, I am righting you all to let you know i am still alive. There is hope. I was DX in Dec 2010 with stage 4 mestatic melanoma. I joined this board soon after. I want to thank you all for all the information that i recieved on here. Me and my husband could not have made it without you. I finished 48 bags of IL2. I was given up to 3 months to live. The only treatment i was given was IL2. It was horrible but i survived it. It  made all my tumors dissapeare except the  baseball sized one under my arm. I had surgery and removed 90% of it. The IL2 is still keeping it at bay. My scans are clear but the Doc says there are microscopic cells that will always be there.  I had 12 rads to that area. The IL2 got rid of the ones on my lungs and my liver and the 6 golf balls i had in my neck above the collar bone.. No futher treatment was needed. March 2012 they founf tumor on the frontal lobe of my brain. Had that removed and 1 high dose of radiation. I have been basically melanoma free for 12 months now. I take it one day at a time. Im just wanting to let you all know that IL2 does work for some. I am a miracle. I am a 28 month survivor.!!! I stalk this page at least once a week. I dont post anything, i leave room for the newbees. Im old news..lol. Just remember there s hope. Never give up. I pray for love, peace happiness and healing for you all.

Thanks for allowing me to be part of your family,

I will never forget you,

Carol b

hey,,, i should have posted the last time you were on here. As for that i can only say im sorry.. As for finding little cancer spots well i had them. As a matter of fact i had 6 of them. they just got all dried up and itchy and i just scratched them off. I completed 3 rounds of high dose IL2. I could only do 14 bags per round. I am a partial responder. I had to have surgery to get out 3 large tumers out from under my arm but the 6 in my neck went completley away. I have stable leasions on both lungs and 1 on the liver but all were stable 3 months ago, I get new scans the 22 so hopefully the IL2 did what it was suppose to and got rid of them to. As for your second round, good luck, i will be praying for you. I found the second round to be rather easy. guess it wasnt as scary and knew what to expect. My third round didnt go so well,, it was damaging my heart. i actually had to be ruched to CCU because my blood pressure dropped to 40/30. So they stopped IL2 after that but i was on my 14th bag so i did it, Thank God he watches out for stubborn dummies.. Keep an eye on blood pressure and drink lots and lots and lots of anything,,,, And dont be afraid to ask the nurse any thing at all..ANYTHING,, well thats snough from me,, good luck and i will be praying for you,,, IL2 is a great drug

hey,,, i should have posted the last time you were on here. As for that i can only say im sorry.. As for finding little cancer spots well i had them. As a matter of fact i had 6 of them. they just got all dried up and itchy and i just scratched them off. I completed 3 rounds of high dose IL2. I could only do 14 bags per round. I am a partial responder. I had to have surgery to get out 3 large tumers out from under my arm but the 6 in my neck went completley away. I have stable leasions on both lungs and 1 on the liver but all were stable 3 months ago, I get new scans the 22 so hopefully the IL2 did what it was suppose to and got rid of them to. As for your second round, good luck, i will be praying for you. I found the second round to be rather easy. guess it wasnt as scary and knew what to expect. My third round didnt go so well,, it was damaging my heart. i actually had to be ruched to CCU because my blood pressure dropped to 40/30. So they stopped IL2 after that but i was on my 14th bag so i did it, Thank God he watches out for stubborn dummies.. Keep an eye on blood pressure and drink lots and lots and lots of anything,,,, And dont be afraid to ask the nurse any thing at all..ANYTHING,, well thats snough from me,, good luck and i will be praying for you,,, IL2 is a great drug

hey,,, i should have posted the last time you were on here. As for that i can only say im sorry.. As for finding little cancer spots well i had them. As a matter of fact i had 6 of them. they just got all dried up and itchy and i just scratched them off. I completed 3 rounds of high dose IL2. I could only do 14 bags per round. I am a partial responder. I had to have surgery to get out 3 large tumers out from under my arm but the 6 in my neck went completley away. I have stable leasions on both lungs and 1 on the liver but all were stable 3 months ago, I get new scans the 22 so hopefully the IL2 did what it was suppose to and got rid of them to. As for your second round, good luck, i will be praying for you. I found the second round to be rather easy. guess it wasnt as scary and knew what to expect. My third round didnt go so well,, it was damaging my heart. i actually had to be ruched to CCU because my blood pressure dropped to 40/30. So they stopped IL2 after that but i was on my 14th bag so i did it, Thank God he watches out for stubborn dummies.. Keep an eye on blood pressure and drink lots and lots and lots of anything,,,, And dont be afraid to ask the nurse any thing at all..ANYTHING,, well thats snough from me,, good luck and i will be praying for you,,, IL2 is a great drug

hi Mariah and Dave

im Rick and my wife Carol has stage 4 melanoma, I have been with her threw it all. i want to give yas a few pointers if i may. first of all try to make Dave drink as much water threw the IL2 treatments (Just as much as you can force him too) it helps with dehydration.  2nd: try to take notes of every time the nurse comes in to take his vitals. 3rd: write down every time they bring him his pain meds. we were at Vanderbuilt in nashville and thats an awsome hospital but the night nurses didnt give my wife all hers. she said she did but my notes told different.

also take notes of what Dave says while on IL2. and things he sees. because it can make him hulucinate. my wife saw things move that really didnt. and the week she came home from round 1 she saw a bunch of ferrys coming out of the laptop and twirled around to make a pretty butterfly lol. and every room in the house was so pretty and pink too lol

there were a few incidences like this that happened but it didnt last long.

i wish yas the best going threw this. just keep a positive attitude, pray alot, get everyone else to pray also. i believe prayer helped my wife. shes back to around 90% recovered thank God.

she had a big tummer removed from under her arm about 5 weeks ago and has some PT,     my wifes a fighter and thats for sure. she broke her back in 2000 and the drs said she wouldnt ever walk again. 3 months later she was back to work.   in 2008 she got breast cancer. she went for 45 treatments of radiation and came to work with me after every treatment. we do elect and plumbing and she was the best. in nov. we went to pennsylvania to see her youngest daughter have her baby, thats when she noticed a lump under her arm. it went from a small lump to a huge tummer and then spread into her lymphnodes. went from nothing to stage 4 in 3 months. the drs gave her 4 and a half months to 9 months to live. its been over 9 months now and shes on her way to recovery.

just hang in there Maria, and tell your husband he can beat this, with God any thing is possible. Faith can move a mountain

 God bless yas both

hi Mariah and Dave

im Rick and my wife Carol has stage 4 melanoma, I have been with her threw it all. i want to give yas a few pointers if i may. first of all try to make Dave drink as much water threw the IL2 treatments (Just as much as you can force him too) it helps with dehydration.  2nd: try to take notes of every time the nurse comes in to take his vitals. 3rd: write down every time they bring him his pain meds. we were at Vanderbuilt in nashville and thats an awsome hospital but the night nurses didnt give my wife all hers. she said she did but my notes told different.

also take notes of what Dave says while on IL2. and things he sees. because it can make him hulucinate. my wife saw things move that really didnt. and the week she came home from round 1 she saw a bunch of ferrys coming out of the laptop and twirled around to make a pretty butterfly lol. and every room in the house was so pretty and pink too lol

there were a few incidences like this that happened but it didnt last long.

i wish yas the best going threw this. just keep a positive attitude, pray alot, get everyone else to pray also. i believe prayer helped my wife. shes back to around 90% recovered thank God.

she had a big tummer removed from under her arm about 5 weeks ago and has some PT,     my wifes a fighter and thats for sure. she broke her back in 2000 and the drs said she wouldnt ever walk again. 3 months later she was back to work.   in 2008 she got breast cancer. she went for 45 treatments of radiation and came to work with me after every treatment. we do elect and plumbing and she was the best. in nov. we went to pennsylvania to see her youngest daughter have her baby, thats when she noticed a lump under her arm. it went from a small lump to a huge tummer and then spread into her lymphnodes. went from nothing to stage 4 in 3 months. the drs gave her 4 and a half months to 9 months to live. its been over 9 months now and shes on her way to recovery.

just hang in there Maria, and tell your husband he can beat this, with God any thing is possible. Faith can move a mountain

 God bless yas both

Ive just now read your post.. i pray the IL2 works for you. I know i would not be here todat without it. I was a wonderful responder. I had every side effect imaginable. The worse was the itching and peeling. It last the longest for me. I havent read anything about you having halousinations. If you do notify them immediatly. Expect the low heart rate, i guess everyone gets that,, mine droped to 40/20 and had to be sent to ccu for 3 days. Im glad to hear your drinking your water. The more the better, DONT get dehydrated. It makes all the side effects worse. Never be afraid to ask the nurses for anything. If you feel some wierd thing coming on le them know to take care of it faster. If you start peelling its usually after u get home. i got a new face lift..lol.. Also i lost about half of my hair, no clumps but it got really thin. If that happens just baby your hair, keep as much as u can and like me it will start growing back, it took about 3 months for me to notice it. But this aint your first boat ride with a treatment so im sure you know what to do mostly. I got a bag every eight hours, the goal was 24 but i could only do 14. I did 3 rounds of it. They decided surgery to get out the huge stubborn one under my arm. Now starting Monday i start radiation for 3 weeks but im getting the high dose so i only have to go Mon and Fri for 3 weeks. i get my Pet in Nov. We are praying IL2 has worked its miracle on me as it has in the past and i would love to be NED this time.. I pray its your miracle too… i will be checking on you to see how you r doing but understand if its after you get back home.. Take care and may God hold you close to his heart.

Carol b

Ive just now read your post.. i pray the IL2 works for you. I know i would not be here todat without it. I was a wonderful responder. I had every side effect imaginable. The worse was the itching and peeling. It last the longest for me. I havent read anything about you having halousinations. If you do notify them immediatly. Expect the low heart rate, i guess everyone gets that,, mine droped to 40/20 and had to be sent to ccu for 3 days. Im glad to hear your drinking your water. The more the better, DONT get dehydrated. It makes all the side effects worse. Never be afraid to ask the nurses for anything. If you feel some wierd thing coming on le them know to take care of it faster. If you start peelling its usually after u get home. i got a new face lift..lol.. Also i lost about half of my hair, no clumps but it got really thin. If that happens just baby your hair, keep as much as u can and like me it will start growing back, it took about 3 months for me to notice it. But this aint your first boat ride with a treatment so im sure you know what to do mostly. I got a bag every eight hours, the goal was 24 but i could only do 14. I did 3 rounds of it. They decided surgery to get out the huge stubborn one under my arm. Now starting Monday i start radiation for 3 weeks but im getting the high dose so i only have to go Mon and Fri for 3 weeks. i get my Pet in Nov. We are praying IL2 has worked its miracle on me as it has in the past and i would love to be NED this time.. I pray its your miracle too… i will be checking on you to see how you r doing but understand if its after you get back home.. Take care and may God hold you close to his heart.

Carol b

Hey there Chet!!!! ive been wandering how you have been doing with the IL2 treatments. I am so sorry that you were not a responder. I don't know much about Yervoy except that will be my next kind of treatment if my IL2 does not keep mel at bay. Since my 3rd round of IL2 it has completely gotten rid of the 6 in my right clavicle..Which i thought was 3,, my Onc keeps me on a need to know basis which i dont like. I have a small 3mm tumor come up on my 6th rib and a 5mm on my 9th rib. IL2 does keep shrinking my large tumor under my arm but in between each treatment it grows back larger and more aggressive. Now i have small tumors growing on the outside of the skin where that tumor is. So my next step is surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they can and hit me with IL2 again to see if it works and if not they want to change treatments.Its time for my PT but cant get it cause they feel its more important to get the surgery first so that will be put off for another month or so,, I would really like to know if it got rid of the ones on my ribs but i will play the waiting game.The surgeon said he didnt think it would make me live any longer if they take it out but to do it to relieve the pain. But im just going on with myself.. I hope and pray the Yervoy works for you. Im sorry i dont have any answers for you or any advice. But i am so happy to see your post as ive been looking for you on here and wandering how you have been. Best of luck with Yervoy. I pray its your magic bullet., and you become Ned with it. Keep us updated as often as you can. My prayers and thoughts are with you always.. Good luck my friend.

Carol B

Hey there Chet!!!! ive been wandering how you have been doing with the IL2 treatments. I am so sorry that you were not a responder. I don't know much about Yervoy except that will be my next kind of treatment if my IL2 does not keep mel at bay. Since my 3rd round of IL2 it has completely gotten rid of the 6 in my right clavicle..Which i thought was 3,, my Onc keeps me on a need to know basis which i dont like. I have a small 3mm tumor come up on my 6th rib and a 5mm on my 9th rib. IL2 does keep shrinking my large tumor under my arm but in between each treatment it grows back larger and more aggressive. Now i have small tumors growing on the outside of the skin where that tumor is. So my next step is surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they can and hit me with IL2 again to see if it works and if not they want to change treatments.Its time for my PT but cant get it cause they feel its more important to get the surgery first so that will be put off for another month or so,, I would really like to know if it got rid of the ones on my ribs but i will play the waiting game.The surgeon said he didnt think it would make me live any longer if they take it out but to do it to relieve the pain. But im just going on with myself.. I hope and pray the Yervoy works for you. Im sorry i dont have any answers for you or any advice. But i am so happy to see your post as ive been looking for you on here and wandering how you have been. Best of luck with Yervoy. I pray its your magic bullet., and you become Ned with it. Keep us updated as often as you can. My prayers and thoughts are with you always.. Good luck my friend.

Carol B

Emotionally inspiring.