6 month lab-work

Well I just got back from my 6 month blood test and chest x-ray.  Now I just get to spend the next week biting my nails and praying that the tests are going to come back clear and that I am still melanoma free.  Next Thursday I will go to the doctor where he will check my lymph nodes, ask me if I have noticed any new moles or bumps, or changes in previous ones- I haven't, and tell me how the lab work turned out.  Hopefully everything is status quo and I'll just have to come back in another 6 months.

Ipilimumab

Ipilimumab  is a new drug that is expected to be approved by the FDA as early as this year.  It's use has almost doubled the average of the survival rate of people with stage III or IV melanoma.  It has many side effects which are mild in most people, but if it works they are probably worth it.

Anniversary

Today is the 1st anniversary of my diagnosis.  Has it only been a year?  Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday and others a lifetime ago.  I have to admit that there are very few days when I am not aware that I had melanoma and that I go to an oncologist (I don't even call him that, I usually just call him my surgeon).  It still seems so surreal.  Is this really my life?

So far so good.  I have another checkup at the end of the month, so hopefully nothing is going on in my body.  I haven't noticed any new suspicious lumps or changes in moles, so I'm expecting to get a good report.

There have been a few advances in treatment in advanced melanoma, so I keep looking at the new drugs with the view that if I even need them, knock on wood, they are drugs that seem to be working to fight melanoma.  It is comforting to know that researchers are actively working on finding a cure for this disease.

Herpes: A New Weapon Against Cancer? - AOL Health

Herpes: A New Weapon Against Cancer? - AOL Health

They say that it might also possibly work on skin cancer too. I know that it's not definite and that even if it works, it will be several years before people can get it, but it exciting to know that people are making breakthroughs for treatment of cancer everyday. Maybe, someday, there will be a cure for cancer, and everyone who gets it will be able to say they are survivors!

UV Dryers at Nail Salons May Cause Aging, Skin Cancer

UV Dryers at Nail Salons May Cause Aging, Skin Cancer

Please read this!

Healthcare in America

Last night, the United States Congress passed a major health-care reform bill.  The President is going to sign the bill into law tomorrow.  It is about time.  Democrats have been working on health-care for the past 50 years.
CNN: Health care;   CNN: Health care latest

There are Republicans who are still trying to overturn the vote.  Why are they so against it?  Do they really want millions of people to die because they can't get proper health-care?!  Or are they just so anti-Obama, anti-democrat, that they will do anything to make a democratic White House fail.  Well, I'm sorry, but I will NEVER vote for a Republican.  If they don't care what happens to me, why should I vote for them?

Finally the uninsured and under-insured will finally have an opportunity to have healthcare.  And eventually, I will finally be able to get rid of horrible plan that covers nothing.  The insurance companies will no longer be able to deny me because of a pre-exsisting condition.  The, should be charged as criminals, CEOs will no longer say that they won't insure me because of my condition.  And it is about time!

I know that this bill isn't perfect, but it has got to be better than what we currently have.  Maybe it will at least do something to change the criminal practices that have been going on in the health insurance industry.

Check-up

I just got back from my six month checkup and, thankfully, everything is clear.  My lungs are clear and my liver is working fine (I had to get a chest x-ray and lab work, LFT's, about a week before my appointment.)  The doctor looked at my scar(s), checked my lymph nodes, and listened to my lungs.  He also looked at my back to see if there were any new moles.  Everything is fine!  The doc asked me if I had any new lumps or bumps, I don't, and said that if any of my birthmarks change, or I get any lumps to come in as soon as possible and not wait until my next appointment.

I am so relieved.  I didn't think there was anything, but ever since I got the diagnosis six months ago I have had this fear that it was going to come back.  It still could, but I am hoping and praying that it won't.  I just have to keep an eye on my skin and then in six months go back to see the  doctor.

I am a survivor.