Kristi Alfaro

I have never posted before but I wanted to give you some hope. I was diagnosed in late March with stage 4 melanoma to the lungs, bones and stomach. I'm braf positive.  I started the Yervoy/Opdivo combo on April 6. After my first dose my tumors swelled and I became severely dehydrated so I was admitted to the hospital for 2 days and put on pain medication. After my 2nd dose I developed a high fever, a slight rash and unbelievably severe headaches with vomiting.  I was admitted once again but this time for 8 days. I had swelling in the lining of my brain which is why the headaches were so severe. I also had my gallbladder removed while I was hospitalized, but that was pretty random and don't think it was tied to the immunotherapy. I was put on 60mg of prednisone and eventually tapered off for my next dose. After my 3rd dose I developed the fever again, joint pain and bad fatigue, so once again I was placed on prednisone.  This is when my oncologist took me off the combo and said I would just continue with the Opdivo due to the side effects I was having.  As for knowing if it was working, I found out my tumors were shrinking withing a few weeks because my visible ones were getting smaller. I also had a CT scan done while I was hospitalized the 2nd time and they informed me that my tumors were in fact shrinking. I just got my 1st dose of just Opdivo on July 1st, but I developed acute colitis 7 days after and was put back on prednisone. So, for right now I am slowly tapering off the steroids and I am down to 30mg a day. They are hoping to have me get my next treatment in about 2 weeks.  Now for the good news…my pet scan on July 13th show almost a complete response.  All those terrible side effects meant the combo is working. I hope the combo works for you. And don't lose hope even if you don't get all four combo doses. 

I have never posted before but I wanted to give you some hope. I was diagnosed in late March with stage 4 melanoma to the lungs, bones and stomach. I'm braf positive.  I started the Yervoy/Opdivo combo on April 6. After my first dose my tumors swelled and I became severely dehydrated so I was admitted to the hospital for 2 days and put on pain medication. After my 2nd dose I developed a high fever, a slight rash and unbelievably severe headaches with vomiting.  I was admitted once again but this time for 8 days. I had swelling in the lining of my brain which is why the headaches were so severe. I also had my gallbladder removed while I was hospitalized, but that was pretty random and don't think it was tied to the immunotherapy. I was put on 60mg of prednisone and eventually tapered off for my next dose. After my 3rd dose I developed the fever again, joint pain and bad fatigue, so once again I was placed on prednisone.  This is when my oncologist took me off the combo and said I would just continue with the Opdivo due to the side effects I was having.  As for knowing if it was working, I found out my tumors were shrinking withing a few weeks because my visible ones were getting smaller. I also had a CT scan done while I was hospitalized the 2nd time and they informed me that my tumors were in fact shrinking. I just got my 1st dose of just Opdivo on July 1st, but I developed acute colitis 7 days after and was put back on prednisone. So, for right now I am slowly tapering off the steroids and I am down to 30mg a day. They are hoping to have me get my next treatment in about 2 weeks.  Now for the good news…my pet scan on July 13th show almost a complete response.  All those terrible side effects meant the combo is working. I hope the combo works for you. And don't lose hope even if you don't get all four combo doses. 

I have never posted before but I wanted to give you some hope. I was diagnosed in late March with stage 4 melanoma to the lungs, bones and stomach. I'm braf positive.  I started the Yervoy/Opdivo combo on April 6. After my first dose my tumors swelled and I became severely dehydrated so I was admitted to the hospital for 2 days and put on pain medication. After my 2nd dose I developed a high fever, a slight rash and unbelievably severe headaches with vomiting.  I was admitted once again but this time for 8 days. I had swelling in the lining of my brain which is why the headaches were so severe. I also had my gallbladder removed while I was hospitalized, but that was pretty random and don't think it was tied to the immunotherapy. I was put on 60mg of prednisone and eventually tapered off for my next dose. After my 3rd dose I developed the fever again, joint pain and bad fatigue, so once again I was placed on prednisone.  This is when my oncologist took me off the combo and said I would just continue with the Opdivo due to the side effects I was having.  As for knowing if it was working, I found out my tumors were shrinking withing a few weeks because my visible ones were getting smaller. I also had a CT scan done while I was hospitalized the 2nd time and they informed me that my tumors were in fact shrinking. I just got my 1st dose of just Opdivo on July 1st, but I developed acute colitis 7 days after and was put back on prednisone. So, for right now I am slowly tapering off the steroids and I am down to 30mg a day. They are hoping to have me get my next treatment in about 2 weeks.  Now for the good news…my pet scan on July 13th show almost a complete response.  All those terrible side effects meant the combo is working. I hope the combo works for you. And don't lose hope even if you don't get all four combo doses.