Melanoma metastases

Those two little red bumps weren't flea bites. Nor were they spots, boils or anything else benign. God, how I wish they were. I don't know why I didn't realise straight away that they were mets, or metastases - little spots of growing cancer in other places from where the main cancer had 'seeded' and spread, much like a dandelion head does when you blow it and the seeds go everywhere and set down root.

I think I didn't realise because my previous metastases had been dark brown flat flecks. These were raised red bumps. Let this be a lesson that melanoma takes many forms and guises. If you have anything on your skin that you're worried about, get it checked out. Far better to be told it's nothing than to learn to late that it was something. 

After a third then a fourth appeared, it finally dawned on me that this was something, and I booked an urgent appointment to have one removed and biopsied.

By this point, I'd already decided to refer myself to the Christie hospital in Manchester, rather than the non-specialist hospital I was at. It took some doing because my consultant at the non-specialist hospital refused to refer me so I had to do it myself (via my GP who wrote an urgent fax asking for me to be referred). At this point I need to give a huge shout out to the brilliant Gill Nuttall from Melanoma UK who gave me loads of good advice and smoothed the path for me being seen by Professor Lorigan's team at the Christie. Melanoma UK is a brilliant charity that helps people affected by this illness; defo check them out if you need help and advice. 

Unsurprisingly my biopsy came back as positive for melanoma. By now I had around 9 spots on my leg with a new one popping up every three or so days. It was becoming apparent that surgery wouldn't be an option, given how fast they were appearing, and that systemic treatment such as immunotherapy would be needed as a first line of fire. 

After many many days of endlessly ringing the Christie trying to make an appointment, only to be told that yes, the team did have my information on their desk and no, I still didn't have a date yes, the letter finally arrived. 

The Christie is a huge hospital and going there for the first time is daunting (technically this was my third time after the trial stuff back in 2012 but it felt brand new). It's overwhelming to see so many people in your position, and worse. 

The day before my skin graft operation, I met with one of the lovely doctors, Sara, and one of the brilliant research nurses, Jacqui. They took me through my options and gave me a few days to decide. It boiled down to two options, both immunotherapies: a combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab, or a single agent called pembrolizumab. After much research I opted for the combo, which I was due to start the week after my op. More on that in the next post.