kentuckycat

Congrats Gary and thanks for the hope!

 

I am not recommending or endorsing either presidential candidate, but everything I have read both sides have said they want to keep the pre existing condition provision that is part of the ACA. So if you believe what is being said, even if the ACA is repealed, those with preexisting conditions can still get health insurance.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/09/24/trump-to-sign-executive-orders-on-preexisting-conditions-surprise-medical-billing.html

Thank you Shelby for all that you have contributed to the MPIP community. You and this site have helped more people than you will ever know. Best of luck with the next step in your career. I am sure you will continue to have a positive impact on people.

Les,
You have been through a lot. That has given you perspective. Your medical background has given you expertise. Your genuine heart has given you kindness and empathy. Thank you for speaking the truth. It is very beneficial for many of us on our melanoma journey. You are positively impacting many lives. Thank you!

Hi Brad,

I have had t-vec in a nodal lesion and unfortunately it did not work for me.  The tumor got rather big during the t-vec injections and we were hoping it was working and eventually start shrinking.  Unfortunately it continued to get bigger.  I was getting pembro at the same time.   I had to switch over to a b-raf inhibitor and that shrunk the nodal lesion almost immediately.  I have not had any symptoms of herpes.  I wish you the best of luck.  I have heard others have had a more positive experience.  

Hi Anne-Louise – I am currently being treated with Keytruda and have had knee and ankle swelling, stiffness and pain to the point of needing crutches to get around.  My rheumetologist suggested Humira, but my oncologist receommended against it.  He believes Humira will hurt the efficacy of Keytruda so I opted against using it.  I am currently on prednisone and it does help some with the knees/ankles.  I don't like the side effects of the steroids, but it does help me get around.  So, to answer your question, I have not used Humira.  However, I just wanted to let you know that my oncologist advised against it, but my rheumetologist wanted me to try it. I wish you the best!

I was at Memorial Sloan Kettering not too long ago and we did discuss the option of T-Vek injections into tumors along with getting systemic Keytruda at the same time.  It was mentioned that insurance companies were not likely to approve this due to the expense of T-Vek.  It was suggested that an option is to inject the tumor with IL-2 (instead of T-Vek) along with Keytruda infusions and insurance would be more likely to approve that since IL-2 apparently costs a lot less than T-Vek.  So, it appears that injecting tumors with IL-2 is being done in combination with other systemic treatment.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

I was at Memorial Sloan Kettering not too long ago and we did discuss the option of T-Vek injections into tumors along with getting systemic Keytruda at the same time.  It was mentioned that insurance companies were not likely to approve this due to the expense of T-Vek.  It was suggested that an option is to inject the tumor with IL-2 (instead of T-Vek) along with Keytruda infusions and insurance would be more likely to approve that since IL-2 apparently costs a lot less than T-Vek.  So, it appears that injecting tumors with IL-2 is being done in combination with other systemic treatment.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

I was at Memorial Sloan Kettering not too long ago and we did discuss the option of T-Vek injections into tumors along with getting systemic Keytruda at the same time.  It was mentioned that insurance companies were not likely to approve this due to the expense of T-Vek.  It was suggested that an option is to inject the tumor with IL-2 (instead of T-Vek) along with Keytruda infusions and insurance would be more likely to approve that since IL-2 apparently costs a lot less than T-Vek.  So, it appears that injecting tumors with IL-2 is being done in combination with other systemic treatment.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!