Good News and Bad News...

I have been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. It has spread to my lungs but no other organs yet. In a CT scan taken last Friday, 3 spots showed up in my left lung and a few inside my skin around my shoulder where I had it a couple of years ago.
I am now being seen at the AZ cancer center in Tucson, and I feel Pretty good about it right now. My doctor wants to start me on interleukin-2 treatments on Monday, but I must first pass a 4 hour heart test, a pulmonary test, and a bunch of labs. So on Monday morning at 8:00am I'll go in to the hospital in Tucson and have a port placed somewhere under my shoulder. A port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick". Then at 2:30pm the same day I will have my tests reviewed by the doc, and if everything looks good I will be admitted to the Intensive care Unit for 5 days. Now try not to be alarmed about the ICU, they just need to keep a close eye on me. The drugs will be given to me every 8 hours as long as I can handle it. After 5days I go home and rest for 9days then do it again for 5 days. After the 2Nd 5 days I get 5-6 weeks off before i go in for another MRI,PET,and CT to see if it worked it all. If not we do something else.

So I'm not losing my hair yet and am just hoping this works. The chances of this working are not in my favor but it's worth a try. I'm staying positive, and i am going to beat this cancer, no other options in my book! If this first treatment doesn't work Ill be on a mission to find one that does, no matter where I have to go.

Josh is strong and doing good. He's been with me every minute, it's cute! The kids don't understand to much so there doing good to. Luv u all!