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We have results! Jerome and I went to NIH last night to meet with Dr Rosenberg and talk about the findings. So it's not exactly bad news, but it could be a bit better. Going into surgery they knew about three lymph nodes that for sure had Melanoma in them. They still took extra nodes and some surrounding tissue to be safe and to check to see how far it spread. So of the 9 total nodes they took, 5 had melanoma brewing. They also found a little bit growing in the lymphatic tissue outside of the nodes. So, it's not really surprising news, but it would have been nice to hear "it was only in those three nodes and everything else was clear as can be". BUT, it could be so much worse. As far as the scans show, it's still just localized in that one area...and that is great news!
So now, next steps. Before we knew this new info, they told us we had two options. Option 1...have surgery, and then since I am technically cancer free, we just wait and see. PET scans every 3 months for a couple years, but don't do chemo until we actually know that we have something to fight. Option 2...surgery, but then be more aggressive and do chemo/immunotherapy for a year (or 2) and hope that it's killing off anything we didn't see before, or stopping anything else from growing. With the new findings though, they kind of took option 1 off the table. So after I fully recover from surgery, probably in about 4-6 weeks, I will start immunotherapy. Starting with the "easiest" one, which is called Opdivo. If anyone has any experiences or stories about Opdivo, I would love to hear them...well, let me rephrase that...I would love to hear your stories about how EASY Opdivo was/is. :)
I left the office feeling very good though...possibly still a little naively optimistic, but whatever. We have a plan, and even several back up plans to try if plan one doesn't work. Also, besides being sore from surgery, I still feel 100% normal, so that helps to be optimistic too! Thanks again for all the prayers, cards, flowers, gift cards...I could go on and on. It is amazing and overwhelming how many people have reached out to me all the way out here. I feel so loved and I will even throw out a #Blessed here! Love you all! ;)
XOXO, Lacey