dbJoe

My oncologist always prescribes a couple 1mg lorazepam (Ativan) tabs for my MRIs. My first attempt back in 2015 lasted about 30 seconds (after waiting almost a year for the procedure). The tech said “Don’t open your eyes,” so, of course I did. Now I sleep through them! As a wonderful side effect, I am able to ride home with my wife driving, which to me is way scarier than small confining metal tubes or melanoma. I think it should be required for all drivers in the greater Los Angeles area, or at least Riverside County (Ativan, not melanoma).

Well, I drink 3 pots a day, and here I thought it must be bad for me (but better than the 12 pack of beer I emptied daily during my previous addiction).

You might look into this one:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT02983045

I don't get the need for outrage. Why click? Why look at the profile? Please, let's not make sudden changes to the best source on the planet, everything is OK.

Remember, not everyone has broadband. Bold New Graphics can cause more irritation than shills for bogus IDs and erection aids.

Be thankful there are no politics already.

Calmly Being Joe

 

I have unknown primary, so my tale skips all the surface stuff. When I awoke after my first surgery (removal of 4cm supraclavicular node along with the cluster) my surgeon described them as black, and the look on his face made me think he'd found a turd. Evidentally, he hadn't seen any in such condition, and chastized me again for being a smoker. We got on the same page afterwards, and I rewarded him by allowing the removal of a handful of axillary nodes along with a laproscapy to 'look around'. I swear, the recovery from getting blown up with CO2 was the worst of it, I felt like a deboned chicken.

After 4 infusions of ipi 3mg/kg adjuvant, three years later I remain NED. Yee haw.

I guess I was (somewhat?) lucky. My surgeon ran into the pathologist in the hallway, he confirmed my diagnosis by the time Dr. Matt to glued me back together.

In all diagnostic matters, I won't leave until I've made arrangements to personally procure any images, reports, or notes. OK, sometimes my wife does, but the point is to get everything, keep your own files.

I remember that day – I realized I was not going to 'get better', that feeling a little crappy was going to be a permanent thing. I sat around for too long, then slowly i began to accomplish little things. Before long my 82-year-old landlord/friend comes over, asks if I'm busy, and we go cut down a tree or clear out the creek bed or something. After all, he's too feeble to be out there by himself…

I have the same problem, I feel if I have to make a quick exit from the tube, I'm gonna break something and bleed a lot. My first one, way back, the tech said: "Don't open your eyes". I was out in ten seconds and rescheduled after waiting a year. Lorazapam is wonderful, and makes SoCal freeways way more fun, even when my wife is driving.

I’m Stage IV, unknown primary, two lymph node harvests. The first thing my oncologist said to me when I met him in February, 2015 was: “I have another patient in your condition that I have been treating for fifteen years.” I’ve been seeing him at least quarterly since. The last thing I asked him when I saw him last week was: “You aren’t planning on retiring in the next, say, twenty years or so, right?”

Listen to this here lady here. What she has to say can save your father's life. The words 'let nature take its course' apply to rivers and forests, not humans with melanoma. Ditch that doctor.

I gave up alcohol for good in 2011. Two years later I was dx'd stage IV. Is there a correlation? If I stop using cocaine will my plane crash? After $120K+ worth of good stuff, I now expect to be hit by a bus.

The above is entirely satirical, however:

My friend, who is in the late stages of bladder cancer, asked his doctor if he could have some brownies, as his wife was afraid that sugar would 'feed the cancer'. The doctor said 'of course'. It breaks my heart that a dying man would be advised to avoid pleasure. I tend to eat a couple pans of brownies a week myself, which seems to be the only way to keep my weight above 140lbs.

My melanoma was not caused by sugar, nicotine, alcohol, or rock & roll.

New to posting here as well, I really had a bit more to say. Our situations are similar, i had two areas of lymph nodes affected, left supraclavicular (neck, collar bone) and left axillary (armpit). My official diagnosis is "melanoma of face, scalp, or neck". After surgeries in February 2015 (two lympectomies, four days apart, brutal) I did a round of ipi (not too bad, rode my motorcycle to the clinic, kept my hair), PD-1 therapy not being yet approved. Since then I've had a few dots sliced & diced, no suface melanomas found, but I did get to have a basal cell carcinoma excised from my nose. I call that my "Extra Bonus Cancer".  I have regular CT and occaisional MRI scans, had a scare with two sub-centimeter nodules in left lung, but they were not visible on subsequent image. I'm probably looking forward to nivolumab. I guess what I'm saying is that treatment is advancing, and it appears to be WORKING! Learn everything you can. If you encounter a doctor who is challenged by your research, get another, possibly excepting surgeons. My experience with my doctors has been great. Their staffs, not so much. Overall, I feel lucky, and greet every day with hope and a little nausea!

 

 

New to posting here as well, I really had a bit more to say. Our situations are similar, i had two areas of lymph nodes affected, left supraclavicular (neck, collar bone) and left axillary (armpit). My official diagnosis is "melanoma of face, scalp, or neck". After surgeries in February 2015 (two lympectomies, four days apart, brutal) I did a round of ipi (not too bad, rode my motorcycle to the clinic, kept my hair), PD-1 therapy not being yet approved. Since then I've had a few dots sliced & diced, no suface melanomas found, but I did get to have a basal cell carcinoma excised from my nose. I call that my "Extra Bonus Cancer".  I have regular CT and occaisional MRI scans, had a scare with two sub-centimeter nodules in left lung, but they were not visible on subsequent image. I'm probably looking forward to nivolumab. I guess what I'm saying is that treatment is advancing, and it appears to be WORKING! Learn everything you can. If you encounter a doctor who is challenged by your research, get another, possibly excepting surgeons. My experience with my doctors has been great. Their staffs, not so much. Overall, I feel lucky, and greet every day with hope and a little nausea!

 

 

New to posting here as well, I really had a bit more to say. Our situations are similar, i had two areas of lymph nodes affected, left supraclavicular (neck, collar bone) and left axillary (armpit). My official diagnosis is "melanoma of face, scalp, or neck". After surgeries in February 2015 (two lympectomies, four days apart, brutal) I did a round of ipi (not too bad, rode my motorcycle to the clinic, kept my hair), PD-1 therapy not being yet approved. Since then I've had a few dots sliced & diced, no suface melanomas found, but I did get to have a basal cell carcinoma excised from my nose. I call that my "Extra Bonus Cancer".  I have regular CT and occaisional MRI scans, had a scare with two sub-centimeter nodules in left lung, but they were not visible on subsequent image. I'm probably looking forward to nivolumab. I guess what I'm saying is that treatment is advancing, and it appears to be WORKING! Learn everything you can. If you encounter a doctor who is challenged by your research, get another, possibly excepting surgeons. My experience with my doctors has been great. Their staffs, not so much. Overall, I feel lucky, and greet every day with hope and a little nausea!