Cyndie in Texas

Thank you for your response! Since this post my brother had his surgery so I will start a new post on how things went.

Thank you so much for the information! You are a Godsend to so many people on this site. I will update after the appointment tomorrow! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Your post made me a little teary as that is what my brother calls me…sis! How crazy is that?! Yes, we will fight like hell! Sending healing thoughts your way!

Hi Mike…thank you for responding. I have been reading your posts as well and it sounds like you have been through hell with not only Kaiser but a lot of other stuff, too. I was saying the same thing myself…that dang it, he just went through recovery and he was doing so good and had just received his 8 month chip from AA and now this BS…ugh. Do you attend AA meetings or does Kaiser offer any support meetings?

My brother is 56 and he enlisted when he was 18 so he missed Vietnam, thank God but I will definitely pass on your kind words! I had mentioned to Dana when he was first diagnosed that he needed to stop smoking but he said he couldn’t especially after he heard the news about the Melanoma. Then surgeon flat out refused to do the surgery if he didn’t quit so he didn’t have a choice. I really wish you the best and I will be following your posts and praying for you! Cyndie

Hi Jackie! It’s great to hear from you! OMG…I can’t believe your husband’s Melanoma was 22 mm! I loved the Bobby Knight comment and I may have to do the same depending on how the appointment with the oncologist goes.
My daughter has a friend who is a drug rep for the specialists at MD Anderson Melanoma group in Houston and I talked to him and he said that they would take a look at all of his tests and scan but I will wait until after Monday to call. We knew he was a drug rep but we didn’t know he had an ‘in’ with the doctors there…how great is that?! Thank you again for all of the information and your words of encouragement! I wish we could communicate another way but I don’t want to put my personal email in here. I live in Shadow Creek…not sure where in Pearland you are. I will let you know how things are going.
Cyndie

Thank you for the information! I agree….after the visit on Monday we will know if it has spread and can make decisions from there. Yes, he is going to do the BRAF testing on Monday as well. I will definitely keep you posted!

Thanks, Amanda! I’m going to see how things go next Monday and then talk to him again. I appreciate the recommendation!

Hi Jim’s Wife…Thank you for the recommendation! After our appointment on Monday I will see if he is open to a second opinion.

Unfortunately I cannot force him to go to a specialist. We will just have to pray that these doctors are going to take care of him. I read the blog from Bubbles and it was difficult for me to understand all of the different medicines. I will re-read it to see if I can make sense of it. Thank you for your input!.

HI Betsy! Thank you for the recommendation. I am going to discuss with my brother about getting a second opinion and I will let him know about Dr. Homsi. I really appreciate the information!

HI Amanda – I am going to talk to my brother about getting a second opinion so he may be more open to getting one in Dallas rather than MD Anderson in Houston. I am concerned that the doctor’s he is seeing are not Melanoma specialists. I am going to ask the plastic surgeon about this when I go to the appointment on Tuesday. His oncologist is Dr. Su and his surgeon is Dr. Saar. Thank you for the recommendation!

Hi Jackie! I talked to the doctor’s office yesterday and this is what they told me:
1. The dermatologist did a shave biopsy and the test results didn’t have measurements but said positive for Malignant Melanoma. He was not able to get it all.
2. The PET scan will only show if it has spread to his bones and organs and not necessarily his lymph nodes.
3. He will have a lymph node biopsy when the do the surgery to remove the spot on his scalp
4. At his follow-up appointment they will have him do molecular testing and blood work and discuss the results of his PET scan and that the PET scan results are never given by phone or earlier than the follow-up appointment.

I’m flying in from Michigan Monday night to go to his consult with the plastic surgeon Tuesday morning. It still seems strange to me that a plastic surgeon will be doing the entire surgery but I guess this is just my ignorance of how this all works. You are right – the unknowns and waiting are very difficult!

I am one of the ones that didn’t realize how serious Melanoma is. I knew it was a type of skin cancer but really had no idea. This has been an eye-opener in so many ways.

Thank you for the information. I’m still waiting for the doctor’s office to call me but I’m assuming that a surgeon will be doing that actual removal and the plastic surgeon will do the stitching, etc. So many questions! He has his PET scan on Monday so hoping for positive news from that! Have a wonderful day and I will post more as I find out!