Re: Sister - melanoma

On 20/11/2004 01:57:12, "neenee" wrote:
> Hi all, I'm trying to find out how bad my sisters situation is. She was
> diagnosed with melanoma several months ago. They removed a rather large
> area from her back. I guess it was rather deep. And when they tested her
> lymph nodes, they found a microscopic amount of the cancer. She has had
> about 13 lymph nodes removed. The last test was clean. But now she's doing
> an interveineous chemo (inferon? I think?) for a month, then will do
> self-injections for a while. Does anyone know of someone who has survived
> melanoma that got into some of the lymph nodes... ? I'm looking for some
> good news, but am quite worried. I would appreciate any information....
> thanks..
>
>
> (`*·.¸(`*·.¸¸.·*´)¸.·*´)
> «´¨ `Janine ´¨`»
> (¸.·'´`(¸*·'´'·.*`)`'·. ¸)
>
> San Clemente, CA, USA
> "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us; to see oursels as oth'rs see us!"
> ~~ Robert Burns
>
>

Hi Janine,

Is it possible to get an update on the outcome of your sister's condition ?
My wife is just about to undergo a very similar procedure, and it would be a
great help to us if we knew how your situation turned out.

Andy

"Andy" <please@ask.com> wrote in alt.support.cancer:

> On 20/11/2004 01:57:12, "neenee" wrote:
>> Hi all, I'm trying to find out how bad my sisters situation is. She
>> was diagnosed with melanoma several months ago. They removed a
>> rather large area from her back. I guess it was rather deep. And when
>> they tested her lymph nodes, they found a microscopic amount of the
>> cancer. She has had about 13 lymph nodes removed. The last test was
>> clean. But now she's doing an interveineous chemo (inferon? I think?)
>> for a month, then will do self-injections for a while. Does anyone
>> know of someone who has survived melanoma that got into some of the
>> lymph nodes... ? I'm looking for some good news, but am quite
>> worried. I would appreciate any information.... thanks..
>>
>>
>> (`*·.¸(`*·.¸¸.·*´)¸.·*´)
>> «´¨ `Janine ´¨`»
>> (¸.·'´`(¸*·'´'·.*`)`'·. ¸)
>>
>> San Clemente, CA, USA
>> "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us; to see oursels as oth'rs see
>> us!" ~~ Robert Burns
>>
>>
>
> Hi Janine,
>
> Is it possible to get an update on the outcome of your sister's
> condition ? My wife is just about to undergo a very similar procedure,
> and it would be a great help to us if we knew how your situation
> turned out.
>
> Andy

Andy,

I had 23 lymph nodes removed with melanoma. It all depends on where they
were removed and how many of them had cancer in them, and where those
that had cancer in them were located. I was told straight away I was in a
bit of trouble, because 4 of the 23 removed had cancer, and they were at
the extremities of the cluster removed, which meant there was a fair bit
of spread. My experience with the interferon is it worked until I stopped
injecting it. Within a month of stopping it I went from stage 3 to stage
4. That's obviously anecdotal so there's no reason that will apply to
your wife. Currently doing carboplatin and taxol after the cancer spread
to my lungs.

One thing I can say is that Interferon is not easy for a lot of people
and there are plenty of side-effects.

There is a melanoma bulletin board at http://mpip.org/bb/index.html there
are plenty of great people there who will give you all the information
you'll ever need.

John

john wrote:

> "Andy" <please@ask.com> wrote in alt.support.cancer:
>
> > On 20/11/2004 01:57:12, "neenee" wrote:
> >> Hi all, I'm trying to find out how bad my sisters situation is. She
> >> was diagnosed with melanoma several months ago. They removed a
> >> rather large area from her back. I guess it was rather deep. And when
> >> they tested her lymph nodes, they found a microscopic amount of the
> >> cancer. She has had about 13 lymph nodes removed. The last test was
> >> clean. But now she's doing an interveineous chemo (inferon? I think?)
> >> for a month, then will do self-injections for a while. Does anyone
> >> know of someone who has survived melanoma that got into some of the
> >> lymph nodes... ? I'm looking for some good news, but am quite
> >> worried. I would appreciate any information.... thanks..
> >
> > Hi Janine,
> >
> > Is it possible to get an update on the outcome of your sister's
> > condition ? My wife is just about to undergo a very similar procedure,
> > and it would be a great help to us if we knew how your situation
> > turned out.
> >
> > Andy
>
> Andy,
>
> I had 23 lymph nodes removed with melanoma. It all depends on where they
> were removed and how many of them had cancer in them, and where those
> that had cancer in them were located. I was told straight away I was in a
> bit of trouble, because 4 of the 23 removed had cancer, and they were at
> the extremities of the cluster removed, which meant there was a fair bit
> of spread. My experience with the interferon is it worked until I stopped
> injecting it. Within a month of stopping it I went from stage 3 to stage
> 4. That's obviously anecdotal so there's no reason that will apply to
> your wife. Currently doing carboplatin and taxol after the cancer spread
> to my lungs.
>
> One thing I can say is that Interferon is not easy for a lot of people
> and there are plenty of side-effects.
>
> There is a melanoma bulletin board at http://mpip.org/bb/index.html there
> are plenty of great people there who will give you all the information
> you'll ever need.
>
> John

Thanks John,
I hoped you would peek in and reply so we would know you're still out there
and get an update.
Best,
J