MelanomaMike

Hi Shelby! Its me Melanoma Mike, im back as you probably could tell (you see aaalll!:) ) i feel good now, that surgery was Needed BIG TIME!..
Quick question, what does our NorthEastern American Cancer brothers & sisters (or caregivers) have that us West Coasters dont have? Haha…just curious, maybe its the THICK accent thats needed who knows…
Love ya sis, keep up the good works over there at basecamp MRF, God only knows you all are the unsung heros of the “behind the scenes” of our foundation…
Your pal, Melanoma Mike

Thats awesome Judy! I can only dream at this point to look back at a day where my scans are clean and free from the bonds of Melanoma, it can happen but take one cycle of Immunal Weaponry at a time. Im proud to say my oncologist Dr. Omid Hamid was one of only a handful Phase 1 & phase 2 trial doctors in the world back then that oversaw Yervoy, Keytruda & Opdivo in its clinical infancy, investigating in depth of its molecular workings, and wrote manuscripts into top publications like New England Journal of Medicine and top cancer related articles in world renowned annals of cancer treatment and prevention….good news Gene!

Im about 2 1/2 months late replying to this, for i was “Out Of Service” like that Cop Car we see driving by with that odd lookin fellah wearing a blue shirt & a “Boy i hate this job” look on his face haha…
Thank you all for the Well Wishes after the fact, i couldnt get on MRF, i tried, i couldnt see that well, my finger/eye coordination was Waaaay the hell off to use my phones keyboard, then of course the pain, the pain ill NEVER forget for the rest of my days….Thank you Dave for reaching out & gettin word back to our peeps so they knew my status, im better now & youll see me more!!

Brother Mark! we’ll gosh darnit man, the news you gave was bitter sweet I mean, when ya listed a med called “Sparta” zimulab I thought the rest of your post was gunna be excellent, hell, with that name you have the ghosts of the Greek Warriors of “Sparta” on your side and they still could be lets see! just hold on brother, hold those kids of yours, do what your able with them and “ignore” that stupid ass 3 to 6 months death sentence, just before I left Kaiser last year to my new clinic, like a dumb ass, I asked my oncologist what am I lookin’ at? she new the answer right away which was odd, she said less then “one year” . Then, that other oncologist I told you all about that I saw, just before I REALLY decided to leave that place, he said less then 6 months if I’m lucky, I’m still here Mark, those timeliness where Not accurate unless I don’t wake up tommorow morning. and that is a VERY small chance. So ya see, those time lines are purely statistics mixed with playing God and I don’t find that funny at all, we ourselves, the patients of cancer or any other illness will know when the time comes, it’s a feeling, an unfamiliar yet undeniable feeling, one who has to ask is far from death…
Love ya my brother, I’ll be following you, I’m back…..Melanoma Mike

Hi Bill, i had a very similar situation as your husband, diagnosed in 2008, had numerous surgeries like every year & a half to Mel tumors that would pop up & seem to only want to live in my left leg (including groins lymphnodes) but, by 2017 they migrated to my lungs and was faced with the very same question, Surgery or Immunal Therapy? (Apparently radiation doesnt work well with lung mets so, that was outta the game plan) i chose Pembrolizumab (Keytruda)… Think this Bill, Immunal therapy takes a little time, Surgeries are “instant”, your walking out the hospital tumor free assuming they can get to them, or get all of them (clean margins is the goal).. its a rough gig we have even for spouses caregivers & family, our fight is your fight & it sure makes it a lot easier….

My SoCal sister! Thats AWESOME you went on a trip, when you said Crystal Cove is that on the beach in Laguna? If so, iv been there!!. Im happy that your still in good hands, me to for the most part, if we can just get these tumors to know who the HELL is in control!!…love ya Julie!

Oh Hell Yah! That’s what we want to see, more & more tumor death caused by these fine Immuno Therapies, Monoclonal types etc. That’s awesome!!… I did the Ipi/Nivo, it killed off a few, shrunk a couple but my Mel is rather on the strong side, so we moved on….

Hi John, this Melanoma Mike that you’ve heard of in round about topics like Melanoma, or cancer & such haha, nice to meet ya…So, your asking about Trials?, I see our sister Celeste gave you an awesome answer, Trials are Night & Day compared to regular FDA approved meds, Clinical Trials are a pain in the ass! & That’s putting it lightly, they stand a good chance of working don’t get me wrong but, try and use the top of the line immunotherapys FIRST, plus there’s other avenues to, radiation, surgery’s, TIL shots, Vaccines etc. assuming your eligible. There’s so many Trials for “Solid Tumors” (that’s what ours is in a nutshell) Trials may not nessesarilly name Melanoma as one or more cancers to be treated, look for the name Solid Tumors when looking, you’ll see that mostly, especially in phase 1, 1b trials. As trials progress to phase 2 then you’ll see Melanoma listed a lot more cuz actual data is avail on Mel.,.Haven’t you recently started Yervoy?….In your bio, unless you got the dates wrong, you stated in late November that your team will test for the B-RAF Gene, you where diagnosed in March? And their just now testing that? Just curious bro!….my doctor, Dr. Hamid seems to have taken the reigns in searching for the best trials, so YES, your doc & team should help you….

Freakin AWESOME! hell yah bro, come to America!!, we’re just like you guys over there across the pond, just a lil’ more agitated and we absolutely LOVE our Wars, we do, cant be an honest country without them…
But Texas? Its hot and humid there! You obviously have a connection there? Haha, Texas is probablly the last TRUE American State, i have 2 brothers, Tim & Daniel, they both live in South Texas in a small town of Laredo right at the freakin border! I believe i wrote about it here on MRF, i hated the town, DirtBagvilla, shoulda been the name, i got to visit last year before my tumor got out a hand (the Sigmoid one, it was small back then!) They like it there, their both cross country truck drivers….What about here in California? Southern California that is, the air is dry, warm & it will clear up all that morning “Fog” in your bones, i should look but, my clinic, The Angeles Clinic, just may have trials using TILS, i believe Cedars Sinai, an affiliate of The Angeles Clinic, has the trial underway but dont quote me, ill research further for you and give or link you to my findings…
Hell yah man, when im done writing, im gunna search for your GoFundMe account, Mark R? Or whats it listed as?? Maybe you said how its listed in other replys, if not PLEASE tell us! Im pumped for you bro! Lets get you treated American style! You may go home agitated and leary about your neighbors but you might be under control with our shared disease!!

Well said Ed, but, im truelly sorry about your Honda’s Check Engine Light coming on all the time, thats Honda for ya’s…they do make EXCELLENT dirt bikes!…