This is probably the most boring post I have ever written with very little emotion or passion mainly because I am not letting myself go to that place. So, a short post to update you on my health.
I think I have been in the frame of mind that if I don’t write about it, I don’t have to deal with it.
I finished radiation to the lesion on my adrenal gland two weeks ago and I was super lucky in that it didn’t make me very sick (except for some very hilarious vomiting incidences – lets just say, thank goodness for the empty soft drink cup in our car!). I finally feel that I am getting back to my normal self, back to work, the gym and pilates. I still have a lot of back pain, but that will take some time and lots of massages!
Read MoreIt was two years ago that my cancer diagnosis became public knowledge. I had not kept my cancer diagnosis secret and not hidden the fact that I had rushed home from East Timor to have surgery in August 2013, but I hadn’t openly spoken about my terminal prognosis received in October of that year and my three month prognosis that I was given in January 2014. Beyond my family and closest of friends, I wasn’t ready to talk openly. I wasn’t prepared to be bombarded with a rush of phone calls and texts from acquaintances that wanted to catch up and say their goodbyes. All I could focus on was making sure that I was well enough for our wedding and to meet my new nephew.
This all changed when my dear friend Rebecca Sparrow who I had only known for a short time asked my permission to write about me in March 2014.
Read MoreDear Melanoma has always been about sharing the rollercoaster that is Stage 4 Melanoma – the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and everything in-between.
There is absolutely no denying that the last few months have had more lows than highs, and just when you are feeling that you are reaching the highs again you’re sent plummeting to reality.
Yesterday I shared my most recent scan results. They were largely positive after starting back on Keytruda and a dose of radiation to my ‘monster’ lesion that is just outside my pancreas. Everything appears stable. But one lesion on my adrenal gland has doubled inside and my LDH levels have increased again in the last 3 weeks. This lesion on my adrenal gland does not, and will not, respond to Keytruda, so our plan of action is to have some radiation in hope that it can be controlled.
Read MoreIt is hard to believe that tomorrow I have my PET scan. It has really snuck up on me this time. It was just over 3 months ago I was sent to have a PET scan because it looked like Debrafenib and Trametinib did not work, and it most definitely did not work. I was once again faced with the reality of terminal cancer and concerned that I was running out of options. It was not a good time physically and emotionally.
Here I am 3 months on in a totally different frame of mind.
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