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- - June 30, 2023 at 2:45 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Praying all will go well with your diagnosis and treatment. Keep us updated here on the forum.
  
  Rhonda
- - June 29, 2023 at 3:59 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Hello TheGaz1982,
  
  Thank you for your response. My husband is doing so-so. He’s dealing with side effects from immunotherapy still even after 2 years. Muscle weakness, fatigue, hypothyroidism, and now swallowing prob attributed to radiation on his neck area. He is doing much better, but each day is something new it seems.
  
  How are you doing?
  
  Rhonda
- - June 21, 2023 at 2:13 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Hello TheGaz1982,
  
  My husband had melanoma that spread to his lymph nodes from his ear to neck. He felt a nodule in his neck in Jan, 2020 and it started to get bigger. By the time we got in to see a dr (about May, 2020) it was fairly large. All in all, after surgery, there was only 1 lymph node that had cancer in it. They removed several lymph nodes then tested. Later, they determined they needed to go back in to clean up the area. So I don’t know the answer to your inquiry, I know what happened with my husband’s situation. I hope this helps.
- - May 12, 2023 at 7:39 am
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  April, Great to hear you are doing well! It gives hope to those of us still dealing with it. Do you still get scans from time to time? Just wondering how often. My husband’s oncologist is still doing PET scans every 6 months for now – he says that the suggestion is to do this for 5 years, but there’s other findings that says they can go longer between scans after a couple of years. My husband had melanoma removed in 2019 and had severe reaction to Opdivo in 2021 and stopped short of a year of treatments. He has had clear scans since then although dealing with side effects from severe impact to his body.
  
  Rhonda
- - January 18, 2022 at 5:36 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  So happy for the good news!!
- - January 5, 2022 at 7:15 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Many thanks to all who contribute here! There is HOPE always. Glad for good reports. I keep up as I keep up with my husband’s progress. It helps to hear from others. May God bless..
- - July 27, 2021 at 8:02 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Here’s a short update on Lee:
  His drain is out now. He’s up going to the bathroom, but still attached to stuff. He’s progressing in the right direction. They don’t have labs back on the fluid. The other blood work is improving in regards to liver enzymes, etc. Working on moving him to another floor. The nurse said he would not be surprised if he might be released tomorrow.
- - July 26, 2021 at 4:17 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Anyway, I’ll make a really short post to update on my husband.
  
  He’s back in the hospital. Fluid buildup again around his heart. He had an Echo on July 8 that showed no fluid.
  
  He was coughing and had a fever and pain in his right chest. Couldn’t keep any liquids or food down. Took him to ER Saturday evening, they tried to drain the fluid with a needle 2 times and couldn’t. Did surgery Sunday morning to cut a window in the pericardium to drain it. They think he’s septic. He’s on 4 antibiotics.
  
  They think his gall bladder is infected. They keep treating the symptoms, but not answering why the fluid is building up. His TSH was high so Dr raised his levo on Saturday. His ALT and AST are high. Is there anything else I should look for?
  
  I’m beside myself what to do. I don’t know how to advocate for him.
  
  Today the hospital isn’t letting any visitors in that haven’t been vaccinated. I have not been. I discussed with his nurse. He says they have a lot of elderly in the hospital now and had a couple of outbreaks the past few weeks, so decided to implement this for safety. So I can’t see him.
  
  Any advice is appreciated.
  
  Peace, Rhonda
- - July 26, 2021 at 2:17 am
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  I’m not sure what is going on with this forum, but I just lost my 2nd post on this thread and it was long. I should have saved it, but I didn’t. I am writing this to see if it will actually post.
  
  Rhonda
- - July 3, 2021 at 6:44 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  SJ,
  
  Sounds great that your scans are clear! You are doing well on the cardiac diet. Do you have a link to the cardiac plan you are following?
  
  Rhonda
- - June 24, 2021 at 2:31 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  This reply has been marked as private.
- - December 7, 2021 at 2:51 am
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Rosie, So happy for your report! Have a blessed Christmas!
  
  Rhonda
- - September 1, 2021 at 3:29 am
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  The doctor should be able to give you something for the nausea. My husband was dealing with nausea and couldn’t eat. His tsh was off. They changed it. I bought him protein drinks which helped and nutrient dense foods. I also made fruit smoothies with whole milk, yogurt, whey protein, & frozen fruit.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  R
- - July 26, 2021 at 4:05 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  I know they are working on this issue. I wish they could find my post!
- - July 9, 2021 at 8:20 pm
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  RhondaF
  Participant
  Hi Celeste, Your links are a wealth of information – didn’t read everything, but gained more understanding.
  
  My husband is gradually gaining strength and been working out in the mornings and wet go walking after dinner. He is eating very well. My only concern is that he is still losing weight. He’s lost 15 lbs since he came home from the hospital. Amount a lb power day. But eating very well. My thought was maybe he is now hyperthyroid rather than hypothyroid. He had not had any blood tests, but next week we will have blood test for T3, T4, TSH.
  
  We also found out we’ll have a 3rd oncologist in less than a year. I’ve contacted or dermatologist to see who she recommends in Hawaii as well as in CA that is a melanoma specialist. I think I’ll try to connect with both of them.
  
  He’s still being seen by a cardiologist to make sure fluid isn’t building around his heart – so far none. Just praying he will recover from this crisis and we can find another treatment plan for him.
  
  Rhonda

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RhondaF

@rhondaf

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