What I am doing now

Deciding what to do first was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. If you ask my family we had many many debates between Braf and Ipillumaud. The good thing was if one didn't work I could still do the other.

My choice was the Ipi (what we call it) Even though only 20% of Melanoma patients respond to this treatment, the people it works in, it works really really well and puts them in remission for a long time. With other treatments Melanoma tumors will shrink but will eventually start growing again and new tumors will grow. So since my tumors are still small and not life threatening I decided to go with the Ipi. This is not an FDA approved drug, so I had to enter a trial. The trial is twelve weeks, four infusions every three weeks. After the twelve weeks I get more scans done and find out if the treatment worked. It is very nerve racking not knowing but I am prepared with my next steps.

I am half way done. This treatment is nothing compared to the Biochemo. It is done in the doctors office and only takes about three hours. So far I have not had any side effects. I have six more weeks and then I get to find out if it is working.

Being in control of my treatment

From not knowing anything about Melanoma in the beginning, I have strived to get as much information as I can now. I learned after it was too late that Biochemotherapy is very controversial. Only twenty percent of Melanoma doctors agree with it. Most doctors recommend high dose ILK2. There is no going back but I have learned there is a whole community out there dealing with this horrible disease and other choices I can make in the future.

Doctors and drug companies are businesses just like everything else. They want to make money. Dr Minor wants to keep me has his patient so he only offers me only what is available to him. It is my responsibility to do what is best for me.

After the Biochemo Dr Minor tried to tell me what to do again. I was not going to let him do that again. I decided to get a second opinion on what I would do next. I went to UCSF med center and talked to the doctors there, they recommended a Braf trial. I am positive for the Braf mutation. But Dr. Minor had an Ipilimumab trial that he wanted me to do.

This was a very hard choice. This is when I decided I was going to be in control and choose the treatment I want to do not what the doctors want me to do.