First can I say I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever be writing a blog post about a visit to an Oncologist to discuss me.
On Monday The Mr & I nervously head towards the appointment booked with the Oncologist.
We were already expecting much of what he told us – we had been on the Internet & read the Cancer Research & Skin Cancer websites – we understood in full (unfortunately) that a Mole like mine was not good.
Whilst it was extremely good news that the CT Scan was clear & the back had been confirmed as being fully excised, rogue cells could have already gone elsewhere in my body and bless them, they can (and frequently do) lie there dormant for up to 5 years and as a result cancer caused by melanoma can now appear at anywhere in my body at any time – and there is a 50/50 possibility of that happening.
Our research online had indicated that the next step for me would be a drug called Interferon – however the oncologist said that according to recent studies Interferon only offers a 3% success rate, and as a result is not available on the NHS.
There is no drug currently available on the NHS that can improve my odds or prevent the cancer coming back. Nothing that can kill the rogue cells…. I would have to wait – hope that it didn’t come back & then if it did, only then would they look at drug treatment plans.
He said that there is a possible drug trial in Oxford for a drug that might help – but …. a/ I would need to have a sentinel lymph node biopsy in order to be eligible for the trial (and at this point he then informed us that this procedure was not available on the NHS & wouldn’t be cheap if we went privately) b/ it is a drug trial so there is a 50/50 chance I would get the placebo and not the actual drug.
The Mr & I left the “consultation” in a state of shock – how could they (he) possibly say in one breath that my mole “scared everyone” and “what have you done to your skin” and then minutes later tell us that basically unless we went private we couldn’t get anything done.
I mean sure…he cleared up a couple of questions we had….we found out for certain that the Mitotic rate I had was fast & that if it spreads it will come back as Melanoma – so for example if it reappears on my liver – it doesn’t become liver cancer – they can’t treat it the same way they would with a liver, by cutting off part of the liver & using Chemotherapy – Melanoma is different – standard treatments don’t apply….
So why if standard treatments don’t apply is there not more of a rush to ensure it hasn’t spread – more of a focus on monitoring very closely – why will I only be seen once every 3 months by a nurse – why have I not had a blood test yet – why is there not a test that can be done on the NHS to find out if it has spread.
Do my hopes lie with a trial – a trial that dishes out yet another 50/50 chance?
The battle has begun….