Andilyn & Vanessa come to visit us in Seattle!

Annie and Nessa came out to help me through my Sentinel Lymph Node surgery.  Figured having a nurse in training around couldn’t hurt.  Plus painting Easter Egg’s isn’t as much fun without a 2 yr old around.

Nessa said of the re-excision on the calf  “It scare me”.  So we helped dress her up too to show her it wasn’t so bad.  Her smiles helped lift us all!

 

Vanessa & Uncle Brandon after his first surgery
*Click on photo for more on their visit

How it all started…

Brandon was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma in March. He noticed a small mole on the back of his leg had changed color and size, it didn’t look too alarming but we thought that since he needed to get in to see a doctor for a regular check-up that he should definately get it checked out. The doctor who specializes in dermatology thought it was nothing to worry about and that most likely it was benign. He had it excised and within 48 hours he was asked to come in to see the Dr immediately.

Two surgeries later and after finding that it had metastasized to one of his lymph nodes we are now waiting to start a grueling year of Interferon immunotherapy treatment to make sure it did not spread anywhere else in his body. Melanoma is a very aggressive cancer and once it’s gone past the skin layers it can spread to distant tissue. We start treatment in a week at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance part of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. We want to thank everyone whose given their support through all of this. Knowing you are there for us has been an immense help!

We did not know much about Melanoma or how serious it was until this happened to us.

Please Educate Yourself!

http://www.melanomaintl.org/

http://www.melanoma.org/

http://www.melanoma.com/