Sorry it has been so long since I've provided any updates on here.  Things were going pretty well for a little while, and it was nice to not think about the Melanoma for periods of time.  But of course another obstacle had to come along and add to this seemingly never ending battle. A couple weeks ago I noticed my eye sight was significantly getting worse. Each day I could see less and less, so I let the clinical research team know, and they set me up with the eye doctor.  I was diagnosed with uveitis - swelling of the cornea- and inflammation of my eyes. These were caused by m ..read more

Source Yesterday I received the results from my CT scan, and its good news again!!! The tumors are still shrinking or staying the same.  There were a few that are now smaller since the last scan, and some have remained stable since then.  Overall we are at 27% shrinkage since the start of the clinical trial. I couldn't be happier for the awesome results so far. I'm also going back to work starting on Tuesday next week.  I'm feeling much more energetic lately, and I'm ready to get back to doing something other than sitting around the house.  My doctors think its be ..read more

Source Time seems to be flying by lately! I can hardly believe next Tuesday I start Cycle 3 of my clinical trial and find out the results from Cycle 2. Although I had to go on short-term disability from work due to fatigue and nausea, it really hasn't been too bad for me lately. I can only hope for continued progress, and that the side effects stay minimal, as they have so far. On Monday I'll go through quite the process again to finish off the cycle. Lab work, a MUGA scan, an eye exam, and a CT scan must all be done to track my progress. Should make for a really fun day! :/ Then Tue ..read more

Cycle 1 of the clinical trial is over, and the results are in. The tumors are all shrinking!!! I received the CT scan results on Tuesday after my day of screening on Monday.  Of course we are all beyond excited to know these drugs are showing promise, and we are looking forward to more shrinkage and good news after Cycle 2 - which started on 7/29. Although we received good news, I have been dealing with some side effects that started last week.  Pretty severe nausea and fevers were occurring, and after a check-up at Moffitt I found out I had an infection that the doctors believ ..read more

It's Day 15 of the first cycle for the clinical trail, and thankfully everything seems to be going smoothly! I've been able to live life pretty normally since I have a lot of energy and minimal side effects. Makes for a happy girl! That is, now that today's appointments are over...  Pinterest First of all, I found out too late that I wasn't suppose to take the morning dose of my meds until after I had my lab work done at the hospital. So instead of getting everything out of the way today, I'll be up at Moffitt again for multiple blood draws over a five hour time period. Can't wait ..read more

Thought I'd take advantage of some unheard of free time this morning before I head off to a training class for work and provide a quick status update of how the trial is going so far.  I'm officially on Day 3 of my trial, and I've quickly realized the side effects are starting to kick in right away.  The medicine made me feel nauseous all day the first day of treatment, so they have me taking Prochlorperazine for relief.  My eyesight is also being affected, as a few hours after taking the medicine I start to get blurred vision and what I describe as a "camera flash" effect ..read more

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in updates lately.  Returning back to work, catching up with friends, and simply living life really kept me busy, and I've enjoyed every minute.  My appointment last week, which included having CT scans and lab work done, was pretty emotional for my family and me.  We found out that the Yervoy has not had any delayed effects on my cancer and the scans showed growth -- But the doctors did emphasize that the good news in all of this is that the cancer had not spread to anywhere else in my body!  The scariest part was the doctors weren't sure ..read more

Hi everyone! Hope you are all as excited as I am for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend!  I'm still feeling great and healthy, which is still so new and refreshing for me that I definitely won't take it for granted.  Even got in some exercise last night with mom, and I'm sure I'll be cursing Jillian when I can't walk today -- this whole getting back in shape thing is exhausting after being pretty inactive for the last month and a half.  But I'm glad to be able to start living life again! I was able to dive right back in to my projects at work, and tonight I finally get to catch u ..read more

Just got back from my appointment today, and overall it was good news. The first thing clarified was that I will not be having the fourth Yervoy infusion (the final of the series). We have been informed that the Yervoy infusions have delayed effects, and even without having the fourth infusion, the drug has been known to shrink tumors weeks and months afterwards. So, I will be waiting it out, and I am scheduled to have my next set of CT scans done in four weeks. Although I'm not overly thrilled about the wait, I am happy that I'm back to being healthy enough to live a normal life ..read more

First, I'd like to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support I received after sharing my first post last night. I can't even express how much it means to me to have all of you behind me during this hard time. That being said, I'll get into today's post.   Lately I can't help but think about how blessed I've been. When I look back specifically to the beginning of my journey when I was first diagnosed, I don't know what I would have done without having my parents by my side.  How crazy it is to think that just a year prior to my diagnosis my parents lived seven hours away ..read more