Here we go - blogging. This is new to me folks so please bear with me.
The whole thing started early in spring. I noticed a mole on my neck, just below my jaw line, that was beginning to grow. It raised a bit and often got nicked while shaving. It got a little infected, pussed, scabbed over, was itchy and looked poor. Kelly and my mom both pushed me to get it checked out - so I did. A family practioner referred me to Doctor Jacob who decided it was going to come off - it was suspicious. So the appt was made and I went to Boundary Trails for the procedure. It really wasn't very much fun. That was August 9th. It didn't heal the best- kinda looked angry - so we got some ........cillin for it and it healed nice. Then, Sept 1., Dr Jacob called me to invite me in for a visit regarding the results. At that point I suspected that this wasn't so good. I was informed that it was a malignant melanoma. It was 2.5 mm thick. THey measure these things closely to determine the severity etc. It is either a stage II or III depending on how the next surgery goes. This was cut and pasted from MPIP.com
Stage II Definition
The tumor is 1.5 millimeters to 4 millimeters (less than 1/6 of an inch) thick. It has spread to the lower part of the inner layer of skin (dermis), but not into the tissue below the skin or into nearby lymph nodes.
Treatment for Stage II MelanomaYour treatment may be one of the following:
1. Wide surgical excision (also called a wide local excision or WLE).
2. Wide surgical excision of the tumor and removal of nearby lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy). Clinical trials are evaluating whether removal of lymph nodes improves outcome.
3. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by adjuvant systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
4. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by chemotherapy given directly into the arm or leg where the melanoma was (isolated arterial perfusion).
So I will be the recipient of a Sentinnal Node Disection or removal. They will put some radio active chemical into the scar to see where/which lymph node the fluid drains to. They will cout that Lymph node out and inspect it to see if the cancer has got there. If not - that is a very good thing. If it has then we will see what happens next for me. Regardless, they will be taking a bigger "margin" of skin from my nect - sometic surgery or a skin graft may be necessary. My surgeon suggested that there were some studies going on right now that I could be a part of. These involved taking Interferon.
Kelly came with me yesterday to Wpg. After the appts we had coffee with brother Steve and sister Chris. I have had lots of great emails and calls of caring and encouragment from many family and friends. Your thoughts and prayers on behalf of my family and I are welcome and appreciated greatly.
The worst part of the whole thing is not knowing where this whole thing is going. The good news is that I feel pretty good. Probably more stressed than usual. I am very thankful for a very supportive family and fantastic work associates who relieve my load daily.
So my plans will be to "Trust in the Lord with all my heart. Leaning not on my own understanding; In all my ways acknowleding Him, and He will direct my path". PRov 3:5-6
My surgery will most likely occur during the back half of October.
The whole thing started early in spring. I noticed a mole on my neck, just below my jaw line, that was beginning to grow. It raised a bit and often got nicked while shaving. It got a little infected, pussed, scabbed over, was itchy and looked poor. Kelly and my mom both pushed me to get it checked out - so I did. A family practioner referred me to Doctor Jacob who decided it was going to come off - it was suspicious. So the appt was made and I went to Boundary Trails for the procedure. It really wasn't very much fun. That was August 9th. It didn't heal the best- kinda looked angry - so we got some ........cillin for it and it healed nice. Then, Sept 1., Dr Jacob called me to invite me in for a visit regarding the results. At that point I suspected that this wasn't so good. I was informed that it was a malignant melanoma. It was 2.5 mm thick. THey measure these things closely to determine the severity etc. It is either a stage II or III depending on how the next surgery goes. This was cut and pasted from MPIP.com
Stage II Definition
The tumor is 1.5 millimeters to 4 millimeters (less than 1/6 of an inch) thick. It has spread to the lower part of the inner layer of skin (dermis), but not into the tissue below the skin or into nearby lymph nodes.
Treatment for Stage II MelanomaYour treatment may be one of the following:
1. Wide surgical excision (also called a wide local excision or WLE).
2. Wide surgical excision of the tumor and removal of nearby lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy). Clinical trials are evaluating whether removal of lymph nodes improves outcome.
3. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by adjuvant systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
4. A clinical trial of wide surgical excision followed by chemotherapy given directly into the arm or leg where the melanoma was (isolated arterial perfusion).
So I will be the recipient of a Sentinnal Node Disection or removal. They will put some radio active chemical into the scar to see where/which lymph node the fluid drains to. They will cout that Lymph node out and inspect it to see if the cancer has got there. If not - that is a very good thing. If it has then we will see what happens next for me. Regardless, they will be taking a bigger "margin" of skin from my nect - sometic surgery or a skin graft may be necessary. My surgeon suggested that there were some studies going on right now that I could be a part of. These involved taking Interferon.
Kelly came with me yesterday to Wpg. After the appts we had coffee with brother Steve and sister Chris. I have had lots of great emails and calls of caring and encouragment from many family and friends. Your thoughts and prayers on behalf of my family and I are welcome and appreciated greatly.
The worst part of the whole thing is not knowing where this whole thing is going. The good news is that I feel pretty good. Probably more stressed than usual. I am very thankful for a very supportive family and fantastic work associates who relieve my load daily.
So my plans will be to "Trust in the Lord with all my heart. Leaning not on my own understanding; In all my ways acknowleding Him, and He will direct my path". PRov 3:5-6
My surgery will most likely occur during the back half of October.
posted by Enzie at 12:38 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the update, we'll look after things here at the store and will be keeping the prayers going.
Post a Comment
<< Home