Thursday, August 17, 2017

CT Scan Results

August 2017

I recently had my routine CT scan, and since I'm now allergic to CT scan contrast I had to do a prep which included prednisone and benadryl before the scan. The scan went fine and I didn't have any of the hives that I've had from the contrast previously. A few days later I received my results, no evidence of active disease from the neck down! While this is great news, I was still not completely in the clear. What this means is that there is a spot behind my scapula that the radiologist could not identify. It's a spot that previously lit up on my pet scan, but now it doesn't seem to be lighting up with contrast. So it could be dead cancer cells... or scar tissue from a previous surgery I had on my scapula. We don't really know. Also I used the words "from the neck down" purposely. I had felt a small pea sized bump on my scalp not far from where my primary melanoma was. I showed this to my oncologist who thought it was melanoma for sure, then I showed it to McDreamy (my neurosurgeon) who thought it could be melanoma or could be a sebaceous cyst, and I also showed it to my dermatologist who thought it was most likely a cyst. But of course me being me... none of them were willing to bet money on it. When it comes to my situation, we've all learned that anything is possible. My oncologist and I decided that the best thing would be to remove and biopsy it. The pathology came back that it WAS indeed melanoma.

Since the rest of my body scan was clear we are going to stay on my current treatment of opdivo every two weeks indefinitely, and keep a close eye on things. I had surgery to remove a wide margin around where the tumor was to make sure all cells were removed. It's frustrating to have my treatment working, but to have one new spot appear like this. It reinforces the fact that melanoma is so unpredictable. I'm very grateful that the rest of my scan is clear and it's been six months now since I've started the drug combination of opdivo and yervoy. God has been so good to me and blessed me in so many ways. I have no doubt that He has intervened in my life, and that there's a reason I'm still here after all I've been through.

A couple weekends ago we celebrated my husbands 31st birthday in Bandon Oregon. We stayed right on the beach and had an amazing time! Over the next few weeks we'll be celebrating a good friends wedding. Corey's looking forward to seeing old friends he hasn't seen in several years. We have so much to look forward to and be thankful for. Life is good.

In Bandon Oregon, A little bit windy!