On 1/3/2007 Bruseashells wrote:
My 59 yr old daddy has Metastatic Melanoma. After initial mole removal from shoulder in April, followed by nodular tumor removal in June, PET and CT showed cancer had moved to the liver and nowhere else. After three full cycles of chemo, (7hrs a day four days a week with 21 day break) new PET/CT showed widespread to skin, blood, lymph and bones down the right side, one of the liver tumors the size of grapefruit with multiple other tumors in the liver. Not in brain yet. Yesterday the pain moved to the left side, so hospice suggests spread as well as a large tumor now growing in his armpit. We stopped chemo in October since he nearly died from it (sleeping 23 hrs a day, developed blood clot and lost too much weight) He is now with Hospice. They have him on 120 mg of morphine twice a day with subl. in between, Dexameta something or other, Lorazapam, and today Elavil was added. The melanomas are popping out all over his face and head, litterally eating him alive from the outside in, he's so sad and so tired of waiting for the relief of death. He's tired of the pills, its no wonder he isn't hungry, by the time he eats all the pills he's full. There has to be some alternative medicine we can try to help slow down the spread or kill the nodules. He's on oxygen at night which was helping to clear his mind and give him energy, but now that the pain is spreading he is getting weaker. I don't know how much time we have left, but I'm desperate for something natural to try. Please help me to help him....
::Update:: My daddy passed away on the 20th of January. Melanoma just doesn't give you much time to try anything whether natural or man made. However, had UCLA and the CBCC cancer center in Bakersfields doctors been more on the ball and actually started treatments quicker, instead of dragging their feet the way they did, daddy would have had a chance at least of surviving a couple more years. But for what......Melanoma is an ugly, evil killer. I was unable to help him or to fix this. As a mother of four who has made a career of 'fixing' things, a part of me died along with my best buddy. Each day is just another day, and mine are numbered. But if anything, anyone who sees this board and sees how fast melanoma cell is when treated too slowly, might have half a chance of being part of the survivors group if they stay on top of their healthcare workers and get treated immediately. God Bless all......Shells