Joy Graham
Message 1 of 1
Hello, I am writing this from Perth, Western Australia - one of the sunniest places in the world with one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. I was diagnosed with 2 primary melanomas over 10 years ago and after regular checkups was believed to be free of risk.In December 1999 I had another suspect mole removed which we (my doctor and I) thought was possibly another melanoma. This mole was approx 5cm from one of the original melanomas on my ankle. It has turned out to be a mestasing melanoma. At this point after examination of my lymph glands there appears to be no other growths. It seems from what I have read on the web there are varying ways secondary or even primary melanomas are treated. According to my specialist and the melanoma expert he consulted, Dr Peter Heenan one of the top in the world, at this stage no other course of action is taken, not removal of lymph glands as I have seen much evidence of in American treatments. It is much a monitoring exercise and treat when necessary. According to my doctor the expereince here in Western Australia is that survival rates appear to be the same whether all or only suspicious lymph glands are removed. I am comfortable with this. He has suggested with some luck this latest find may be the one and only sight, cancerous cells dormant for all this time, having travelled a short distance through the lymph system and lodged until circumstances (stress, illness, diet???) meant they became active.Thsi is not the only scenario he presented to me but of course this is my hope and my limited understanding of his explanation. I would love to hear from anyone experiencing similar. I am interested in using alternative methods to boost my immune system, I am investigating nutritional aspects and changes to keep myself healthy, not easy for someone who enjoys food as much as I do. I'm generally healthy but have led a very stressful couple of years and do wonder if this could be the contributing factor. I am looking at things like Barley Green, changing to a raw vegetarian diet etc. I am keen to find out about Progesterone cream - one statement I read in information about this was women who had HRT (estrogen replacement)had a three fold increased risk of melanoma. I'm not taking HRT (too young) but have been on the pill on and off for years and was wondering about this. Anyway enough rambling, I'm not sure how this all works. I look forward to hearing from anyone, Thank you - Joy