Cancer Treatment Info

I also want to update everyone in regards to my last cancer post.  First Brad still has his job!  Second I wanted to inform everyone about my clinical trial.  For this cancer treatment, I go in every Monday and over the course of 3 months will be given 6 shots.  These shots are similar to a flu vaccine in the fact that my body will build an immune system that will know to attack Melanoma cancer cells.  It's really fascinating and an exciting time in the Melanoma Field!

The shots feel like they are injecting me with cement!  The injection site is so painful the first few days it actually leaves a permanent welt.  They have to inject me in a different spot each week.  They rotate between both my legs and my right arm.  Since my left arm is where they removed my lymph nodes that arm has to forever be avoided.  That means no blood pressure can be taken in that arm, shots, or blood drawn.  When they draw my blood each week they take between 10-16 vials each week for testing.

I get the shots on Mondays and a couple of hours after I get the injection I start getting really tired.  24 hours after the shot on Tuesdays is when I get sick.  I get a slight fever, aches, chills, and night sweats.  By Wednesday morning I feel slightly better though not 100% but by the afternoon I'm usually good.  So I usually start feeling like myself by the weekends only to start over again on Monday.  The first week so far has been the worst.  I got the sickest that week and then the following two weeks have been pretty similar.

They will take 2 biopsy's on two of the sites they have injected me to see how my body is reacting to the treatment.  I had one on my second week and they take three paper punch samples (similar to getting a mole removed) from my arm to have tested.  I have my second one this Monday and they'll take 3 more samples from my leg.  The samples have left three star like scars on my arm.  I'm sure the leg will be no different.

I have an old friend from Morenci whose brother in law was diagnosed with the exact same cancer as me around the same time as me and has to be on interferon (a chemo-like drug) for a year.  He's barely eating again and it's been about 6 months!  I've also made friends with parents to a teenager who has Melanoma.  We've been waiting room friends as we have the same doctor.  They're from Elko Nevada and we made the Utah/Nevada friendship.  The mother said her son is not gonna make it.

I feel so thankful that even though this isn't fun, I know its a million times better than the alternative drug interferon.  I'm sick for about a day and a half each week for 3 months vs. every day for a year.  And I can have the peace of mind that I'm doing everything that I can to stop my cancer from returning.  It's hard seeing dying patients at the hospital and not think why them and not me, but I have to stay positive.  I've got kids who need me.