Medical Assistance with Recurring Cancer

My story goes back five years when our little Boston Terrier, Celest (pictured in this fundraiser), found what turned out to be a tumor on my right breast. I went through an intense treatment which included surgery, many rounds of chemotherapy and physical therapy to repair surgical damage to my right armpit due to the mastectomy. The recovery was slow but I was able to regain normal usage of the affected areas. Thankfully, that bout of cancer had not spread to any lymph nodes. Things returned to normal and life was good...or as good as one who went through cancer treatment can see it.

Sadly, this is where the story takes a turn.

About 16 months ago a suspicious mole was found on my left flank that turned out to be malignant melanoma. More surgery was required to remove the affected tissue and surrounding margins but it was found to have spread to the sentinel nodes in my left armpit. The nodes were removed and tests showed that they contained cancerous cells. No treatment was done as the doctors wanted to adopt a "wait and see" attitude and it appeared that everything was fine.

Nothing turned out to be fine.

In December of 2023 I took a fall while walking the same dog, Celest, and I fell on my left side. Upon checking myself for injury, I felt an odd lump under my left armpit that didn't quite seem right but I chalked it up to being some light trauma due to the fall so I didn't mind it much. A few weeks later the lump was still there and I got concerned so I made an appointment with my doctor. He was suspicious about and ordered an ultrasound and mammogram of my left breast and surrounding areas. The mammogram came back negative for breast cancer which was a relief but the ultrasound of the axillary lymph nodes showed a mass of considerable size. A biopsy was ordered and after a few intense days of waiting we got the news we didn't want to see: Metastatic Melanoma.

My cancer has returned and it has spread. Where and how badly we are uncertain of.

As of the time of this writing - and it will be updated - a PET scan and a brain MRI have been ordered to see just how far it has spread. I will be able to give more information once it is available to me.

This is where you come in. Medical treatment for cancer is extremely expensive and I will need any assistance you can give should you find it in your heart to help out.

I do not know where this bout with cancer will take me but three times with it is three times too many and I wouldn't want anyone to have to endure the mental anguish, the sleepless nights and everything else that comes with this kind of diagnosis.

Thank you for reading and if you decide to donate I will be eternally grateful.

Update: 01/31/2024:

The first appointment with my oncologist resulted in a confirmation of metastatic melanoma. An MRI is scheduled for 02/10/2024 to determine if the melanoma has spread to my brain. We will be going with immunotherapy to treat the cancer and hopefully eradicate it. How much of the drugs are required will depend on the brain spread. If it hasn't gone to my brain then it will require less. If it has it will require more. And as with any kind of medication, more means a higher chance of bad side effects. With immunotherapy there can be any number of serious side effect with developing Type 1 diabetes. We will have to see how I do down the road to determine if it will have an effect.

I will be getting a port surgically put in place in my chest so the medication can be administered directly. This should be happening within the next few weeks or less. I've already spoken to the surgeon about this and appointments are pending.

I do not know where this journey is going to end or how long it is going to last but I am thankful to my friends and family as well as everyone who has given me assistance along the way. I love you all.

And so does Celest!