GAngel

Hello.  I'm so sorry to hear that your husband is suffering from this side effect and I do believe that it IS a side effect.  My husband had been on the Taf/Mek combo for 2 1/2 years (intermittently) and is no longer taking it by choice. He remains NED according to his latest scan 2 weeks ago, and he has never had brain mets or any other problems with his brain.

My husband definitely had periods of extreme moodiness during the time he was on the combo where he would get so angry and lash out for minor things that normally wouldn't have made him react at all.  His behavior was so unlike him because normally he is a type "B" personality, and just an overall nice person. Realizing that his outbursts were only happening while he was on the combo I aptly named his behavior “combo rage”.

I feel terrible that you and your young daughter are dealing with the same “combo rage” that our family dealt with and I wish I had a solution, I don’t. I can only share with you what I did. First, I learned not to react whenever my husband was suffering from one of his episodes (which was hard at times because I am a type "A" personality) and I would just remind myself that it was the medication making him act that way. If I did react it was a conquer the situation with kindness approach and I would tell him I loved him when I really was thinking the opposite, lol, in an attempt to disarm him or diffuse the situation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. 

We have two sons, now ages 17 and 27.  It was hard on them as well but because they are older they were able to understand why dad was acting so crazy; sadly, it may be harder for a little girl your daughter’s age to comprehend. The good news is that my husband’s episodes seemed to happen less frequently as time passed so hopefully that will be the case with your husband.  

I did mention my husband’s outbursts to his oncologist when it started happening and he was hesitant to connect his moodiness and anger to the medications and felt that it was probably more to blame on depression associated with his cancer diagnosis.  I eventually concluded that his oncologist was wrong and that there is a connection to the meds but that's just my opinion. You should tell his oncologist what is going on and maybe he will be able to assist you on the best way to handle the situation. 

I wish you and your family the best in dealing with this issue as well as all of the other hurdles that you will face in the melanoma journey.  It won’t be easy but you will get through it.

Blessings!

Gina

Hello.  I'm so sorry to hear that your husband is suffering from this side effect and I do believe that it IS a side effect.  My husband had been on the Taf/Mek combo for 2 1/2 years (intermittently) and is no longer taking it by choice. He remains NED according to his latest scan 2 weeks ago, and he has never had brain mets or any other problems with his brain.

My husband definitely had periods of extreme moodiness during the time he was on the combo where he would get so angry and lash out for minor things that normally wouldn't have made him react at all.  His behavior was so unlike him because normally he is a type "B" personality, and just an overall nice person. Realizing that his outbursts were only happening while he was on the combo I aptly named his behavior “combo rage”.

I feel terrible that you and your young daughter are dealing with the same “combo rage” that our family dealt with and I wish I had a solution, I don’t. I can only share with you what I did. First, I learned not to react whenever my husband was suffering from one of his episodes (which was hard at times because I am a type "A" personality) and I would just remind myself that it was the medication making him act that way. If I did react it was a conquer the situation with kindness approach and I would tell him I loved him when I really was thinking the opposite, lol, in an attempt to disarm him or diffuse the situation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. 

We have two sons, now ages 17 and 27.  It was hard on them as well but because they are older they were able to understand why dad was acting so crazy; sadly, it may be harder for a little girl your daughter’s age to comprehend. The good news is that my husband’s episodes seemed to happen less frequently as time passed so hopefully that will be the case with your husband.  

I did mention my husband’s outbursts to his oncologist when it started happening and he was hesitant to connect his moodiness and anger to the medications and felt that it was probably more to blame on depression associated with his cancer diagnosis.  I eventually concluded that his oncologist was wrong and that there is a connection to the meds but that's just my opinion. You should tell his oncologist what is going on and maybe he will be able to assist you on the best way to handle the situation. 

I wish you and your family the best in dealing with this issue as well as all of the other hurdles that you will face in the melanoma journey.  It won’t be easy but you will get through it.

Blessings!

Gina

Hello.  I'm so sorry to hear that your husband is suffering from this side effect and I do believe that it IS a side effect.  My husband had been on the Taf/Mek combo for 2 1/2 years (intermittently) and is no longer taking it by choice. He remains NED according to his latest scan 2 weeks ago, and he has never had brain mets or any other problems with his brain.

My husband definitely had periods of extreme moodiness during the time he was on the combo where he would get so angry and lash out for minor things that normally wouldn't have made him react at all.  His behavior was so unlike him because normally he is a type "B" personality, and just an overall nice person. Realizing that his outbursts were only happening while he was on the combo I aptly named his behavior “combo rage”.

I feel terrible that you and your young daughter are dealing with the same “combo rage” that our family dealt with and I wish I had a solution, I don’t. I can only share with you what I did. First, I learned not to react whenever my husband was suffering from one of his episodes (which was hard at times because I am a type "A" personality) and I would just remind myself that it was the medication making him act that way. If I did react it was a conquer the situation with kindness approach and I would tell him I loved him when I really was thinking the opposite, lol, in an attempt to disarm him or diffuse the situation. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. 

We have two sons, now ages 17 and 27.  It was hard on them as well but because they are older they were able to understand why dad was acting so crazy; sadly, it may be harder for a little girl your daughter’s age to comprehend. The good news is that my husband’s episodes seemed to happen less frequently as time passed so hopefully that will be the case with your husband.  

I did mention my husband’s outbursts to his oncologist when it started happening and he was hesitant to connect his moodiness and anger to the medications and felt that it was probably more to blame on depression associated with his cancer diagnosis.  I eventually concluded that his oncologist was wrong and that there is a connection to the meds but that's just my opinion. You should tell his oncologist what is going on and maybe he will be able to assist you on the best way to handle the situation. 

I wish you and your family the best in dealing with this issue as well as all of the other hurdles that you will face in the melanoma journey.  It won’t be easy but you will get through it.

Blessings!

Gina

Hello..I'm sorry to say that I know what you are going through because my husband also has stage 4 melanoma, or I should say "had" I suppose because he has been NED for over a year now.  He was diagnosed in Feb. of 2013 and although he did not have brain mets he had over 15 tumors in his liver and it was also in his lymph node in his left groin. He immediately started taking cannabis oil and still takes it to this day and it has never caused any adverse reactions when taken with the braf/mekinist combo that he has been on (intermittently) since July of 2013.  As stated, my husband currently has no evidence of disease and is successfully beating melanoma and winning his battle against it.

I just wanted to give you some encouraging news about our success with the above and tell you that although your husband will suffer some side effects…they can be managed and may even diminish the longer he is on the combo.   It's not an easy road but hang in there because it will get better.  Try to be strong for your husband as best you can but remember to take care of yourself as well especially because of your little one growing inside you!  Your husband has so much to live for and remind him of that daily.

Also, I highly recommend daily juicing and healthy eating. We eat organically grown fruits and vegetables and severely limit refined sugar, processed foods, and most dairy. Last but not least…pray…and don't stop.

Best of luck.  I will be praying for you and your husband.

Blessings,

Gina

Hello..I'm sorry to say that I know what you are going through because my husband also has stage 4 melanoma, or I should say "had" I suppose because he has been NED for over a year now.  He was diagnosed in Feb. of 2013 and although he did not have brain mets he had over 15 tumors in his liver and it was also in his lymph node in his left groin. He immediately started taking cannabis oil and still takes it to this day and it has never caused any adverse reactions when taken with the braf/mekinist combo that he has been on (intermittently) since July of 2013.  As stated, my husband currently has no evidence of disease and is successfully beating melanoma and winning his battle against it.

I just wanted to give you some encouraging news about our success with the above and tell you that although your husband will suffer some side effects…they can be managed and may even diminish the longer he is on the combo.   It's not an easy road but hang in there because it will get better.  Try to be strong for your husband as best you can but remember to take care of yourself as well especially because of your little one growing inside you!  Your husband has so much to live for and remind him of that daily.

Also, I highly recommend daily juicing and healthy eating. We eat organically grown fruits and vegetables and severely limit refined sugar, processed foods, and most dairy. Last but not least…pray…and don't stop.

Best of luck.  I will be praying for you and your husband.

Blessings,

Gina

Hello..I'm sorry to say that I know what you are going through because my husband also has stage 4 melanoma, or I should say "had" I suppose because he has been NED for over a year now.  He was diagnosed in Feb. of 2013 and although he did not have brain mets he had over 15 tumors in his liver and it was also in his lymph node in his left groin. He immediately started taking cannabis oil and still takes it to this day and it has never caused any adverse reactions when taken with the braf/mekinist combo that he has been on (intermittently) since July of 2013.  As stated, my husband currently has no evidence of disease and is successfully beating melanoma and winning his battle against it.

I just wanted to give you some encouraging news about our success with the above and tell you that although your husband will suffer some side effects…they can be managed and may even diminish the longer he is on the combo.   It's not an easy road but hang in there because it will get better.  Try to be strong for your husband as best you can but remember to take care of yourself as well especially because of your little one growing inside you!  Your husband has so much to live for and remind him of that daily.

Also, I highly recommend daily juicing and healthy eating. We eat organically grown fruits and vegetables and severely limit refined sugar, processed foods, and most dairy. Last but not least…pray…and don't stop.

Best of luck.  I will be praying for you and your husband.

Blessings,

Gina

That's great news!  He will benefit from this wonder drug! I think the irony is that its the only drug that I know of that you cannot OD on and it  offers so  many health benefits yet its been demonized for decades as a gateway drug that is harmful. So much so that it continues to be illegal in most states!

Wishing you and your father the best!

Gina

That's great news!  He will benefit from this wonder drug! I think the irony is that its the only drug that I know of that you cannot OD on and it  offers so  many health benefits yet its been demonized for decades as a gateway drug that is harmful. So much so that it continues to be illegal in most states!

Wishing you and your father the best!

Gina

That's great news!  He will benefit from this wonder drug! I think the irony is that its the only drug that I know of that you cannot OD on and it  offers so  many health benefits yet its been demonized for decades as a gateway drug that is harmful. So much so that it continues to be illegal in most states!

Wishing you and your father the best!

Gina