Biopsied Mole Benign!

Good News!  Brandon got his test results from Dr. Argenyi and the most recent mole biopsy taken from his back is benign. Now we are trying to get in for Grid Photography. All current appts are completely booked so we are on the waiting list. We’ll keep calling and calling them till we get in!  Through this treatment we’ve learned how important it is to be persistent despite our obstacles.

Our nephew Bryce turns 6

This last weekend we took a trip up to Camano Island, about 60 miles north of Seattle, where my sister’s family lives to help our nephew Bryce celebrate his 6th Birthday! It was a good chance to play with our niece Sabrina, visit with my sister and my mom who flew in town for the party. The skies were clear and on the way home we stopped to view beautiful Mount Baker and watch the amazing fall sunset in Everett. Click here for more photos from that day.

Day 100!

Today is Brandon’s 100th day of treatment! We celebrated with a Naturopathic Oncology Appointment at the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center where we received some helpful guidance on symptom management from Dr. Gignac. Then over to Massage therapy where Brandon got his first official Manual Lymphatic Massage and lastly we attended a lecture provided by Fred Hutch Research Center on “Cancer Survivor Symptom Management” given by Dr. Mark Jensen. He covered how change in diet, increase in exercise, Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, and Self Hypnosis can improve your symptoms. It was a good day and we have more tools under our belt to help deal with the fatigue, insomnia, pain and stress this cancer has brought us. We are blessed to have so many great resources living here in the Northwest!

Dermatopathologist Appointment

Today we saw Dr. Argenyi at the UWMC Dermatology who specializes in pigmented lesions and dermatopathology.  Because of Brandon’s history with Melanoma he is at risk for new melanoma moles. The last Dermatologist we saw referred him to a Pigment Specialist since he has many dysplastic nevis, which are moles whose appearance are different from that of common moles. First a Resident Doctor gave Brandon a thorough exam, then Dr. Argenyi did another thorough check of his entire body with a Dermoscope. This is a diagnostic tool which is like a very high magnification lens with a built-in illuminating system to view of skin lesions not normally visible to the unaided eye. They marked 4 moles to watch and one to later biopsy.

Then they took digital photography of all 5 moles and one photo of his entire back and mapped the location of all the moles.  We will get the results back from the biopsy in about a week. The next step for monitoring Brandon’s moles is Grid Photography. Grid Photography will allow them to watch pigmented lesions and moles for change to catch any possible melanoma early and avoid biopies of moles which are benign.  After Grid Photography we will continue to see Brandon’s Dermatologist Dr. Newman in the next 3-6 months and in 1 year we will go back to Dr. Argenyi for more monitoring with the mapping and photography. We will continue to do Home Skin Check Exams to watch for any changes or new moles. We felt good after our appointment today knowing we are using all available tools to help prevent new melanoma.

Home Skin Exam

Suggestions for a Skin Exam: The best time to perform a skin exam is after a shower or bath. You should check your skin in a room with plenty of light, and you should use a full-length mirror and a handheld mirror for this skin exam. Begin by learning where your birthmarks, moles, and other marks are and their usual look and feel.

Check for anything new, such as:

• A new mole that looks different from your other moles
• A new red or darker – colored flaky patch that may be a little raised
• A new flesh – colored firm bump
• A change in the size, shape, color, or feel of a mole
• A sore that does not heal

Check yourself from head to toe including:

1. Your back, scalp, genital area, and between your buttocks.
2. Your face, neck, ears, and scalp. You may want to use a comb or a blow dryer to move your hair so that you can see better. You also may want to have a relative or friend check through your hair. It may be hard to check your scalp by yourself.
3. The front and back of your body in the mirror. Then raise your arms and look at your left and right sides.
4. Bend your elbows. Look carefully at your fingernails, palms, forearms (including the undersides), and upper arms.
5. The back, front, and sides of your legs.
6. Your feet, including your toenails, your soles, and the spaces between your toes.

By doing a skin exam regularly, you will learn what is normal for you. It may be helpful to record the dates of your skin exams and to write notes about the way your skin looks. If your doctor has taken photos of your skin, you can compare your skin to the photos to help check for changes. If you find anything unusual, talk with your doctor as soon as possible.

One more month down…1/4 of the way through!

We’ll we’re still slogging through the treatment and haven’t missed an injection yet.  We still take things pretty much day to day as far as planning and our expectations of what we can do.  I think we’ve been lucky to have such an active set of weekends.  Most nights still end up with me in bed by 8 though, it almost feels like having Mono with a Flu, naps and soups are usually the only consistently sounding good things.

A couple of good days in a row and it feels like the treaments not so bad and we can finish out, but then you get a couple bad days where you wonder how you can stay on it.  Luckily Melissa has been a great support and our works have been great with all the scheduling.  I go in about once or twice a week still, the Physical Therapists are still working on my leg and have signed me up at a gym.  I guess you need to lift weights to really make headway with Lymphedema.  But the day they gave me the gym slip I rolled my right ankle playing basketball.  Talk about the worst place to have that happen, I thought the swelling in that area was finally settling down and now it looks like it’s back to square one and wrapping my ankle.   If anything it’ll be a good test to see if my ankle can manage to get back to normal without some serious work.  I’m hopefull but the PT’s just shake their heads..

Due to the insomnia and other side effects of the drug the Doctors decided to cut the dose a bit and we’ll see over the next few weeks how much of a change that is.   Since it hits everyone is so differently it’s tough to know what to expect and if it’ll actually change anything, also since the drug’s effects stay with you for 2 weeks it’s not an immediate effect.  Oddly just the opposite happens, at first your body misses the full dose and the ramping up of the immune system and so it suffers a form of withdrawl.  The Doctors say I’m doing well overall though and are glad to see my liver counts come back to normal.  The Red and White Blood cell counts are down though and I guess that is to be expected with Intron.

Other then that I’ve just been trying to get in for some high tech mole mapping.  First they photograph you all over to get every inch of skin, (good thing I’ve lost more weight) and then analyze it with a computer.  Should be interesting except that few Dermatologists do it and those that do are booked clear through January.  At least I’ve been a pain enough that they agreed to get me on the emergency list for mapping.  With any luck I’ll be posting some naked pictures soon.  Hey we have to get this site’s hit count up somehow!

What is Melanoma

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer in which a pigmented skin cell, called a melanocyte, has lost its normal growth patterns, resulting in uncontrolled growth of the cells.  Characteristics of a “mole” which suggest melanoma are those moles with a variegated color, irregular border, and any mole with ulceration. Any change in a mole such as darkening, bleeding or ulceration mandates biopsy.

Melanoma can occur anywhere in the body: the trunk, extremities, face, ears, the back of the eye and the gastrointestinal tract and occasionally in the nail bed. The incidence is increasing faster than any other cancer. Those individuals at greatest risk of developing melanoma are those with family history of melanoma, personal history of previous melanoma, sensitivity to sun, fair complexion and exposure to sunlight.

Location on the trunk rather than the extremities and delay in diagnosis are the other two major factors in increasing fatality of this disease. Once a melanoma has reached a depth of the skin of greater than 0.76 mm, there is a significant risk of lymph node metastases and methods are now available to help predict the presence or absence of this particular type of spread.

Please get your moles checked!

Camping on Olympic Peninsula

Sept 5-7 we joined my side of the family and some friends Camping at Dungeness Recreation Area on the Olympic Peninsula. Dungeness Spit is the longest natural sand spit in the United States. Extending 5 miles into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. It was a relaxing weekend of hanging out, playing with the kids and a little hiking. Brandon had a hard day Saturday (little sleep on Friday night) with some stomach issues, headaches and fatigue so after a leisurely brunch he took a nap in our nice new, spacious tent while the rest of us headed down to the beach. We couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather all weekend and on Saturday night we witnessed a breathtaking sunset that seemed to go on hours. After s’mores and some bedtime songs and snuggling with the kids, Brandon and I had a very restful sleep (one of his first good nights sleep in quite a while). On our way home we stopped at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center to view the artwork and then took a slight detour to stop in the town of Seabeck on the Kitsap Peninsula. Enjoy more photos by clicking on the photo of Brandon and the girls.

Bear Lake Reunion

Labor Day weekend we went to a Family Reunion for Brandon’s Mom’s side of the family. We flew into Salt Lake City early Friday morning and first thing met up with Meggan and Luie to visit Grandpa Dan and Grandma Luene. We enjoyed a nice lunch then got a chance to see their new place. We then drove about 3 hrs to  the Reunion at Bear Lake, Idaho 1.5 miles from the Utah border. It is a beautiful place and the weather was perfect! It was great to see the family and for me to meet a few of the cousins I’ve never met. There was lots to do, Swimming, ATVing, Waterskiing, Caving, Hiking. Brandon and I explored the Minnetonka Caves on Saturday and went hiking at Bloomington Lake on Sunday. We had so much fun and feel truly blessed to have such a loving family and look forward to next year’s reunion!