tmlovett's Journey with Skin Cancer - Melanoma

Sept. 2003 - Original melanoma removed w/ node biopsy. Learned the hard way that I do not tolerate anesthesia or pain medication.

January 2011 - I found a small "lump" on my back/shoulder blade and knew it wasn't normal. Come to find out it was my Melanoma, spread to my lymph from my original site on my R leg

March 2011 - Melanoma returns to Lymph node in R axilla. Undergo 4 different procedures during the month of March in order to remove all cancer in the area.

May 2011 - Found out we were expecting baby #2!!

October 2011 - 6 months into my 2nd pregnancy I find 4 more tumors

October 2011 - after finding 4 new cancerous tumors (while prenant), I undergo surgery for resection. End up in the ER that night due to severe dehydration that acted like pre-term labor.

December 31, 2011 - We welcome our 2nd child!

Feb 2012 - 5 weeks after the birth of my 2nd child, I started my 4 treatments of Ipilimumab. Minimal side effects for me, only increased fatigue the day of infusion.

July 2012 - Do one round of 5 radiation treatments focused on 1 tumor. Very frustrating because of the time commitment to be there and lack of results.

Oct. 7 2012 - Right after having Baby #2 and just starting my infusion treatments, I decided to sign up for the Chicago Marathon. It was a great way to focus my stress and energy during treatment (and lose the baby weight!). My sister ran with me and we ran for the American Cancer Society! We were the #1 fundraising team too! This was a HUGE accomplishment and a wonderful experience!

Nov. 1, 2012 - After getting a better report on my latest PET/CT, there was one thing lingering in my Uterus, or so they thought. Upon further imaging it turned out to be a mass in/on my right ovary. That US was on a Monday, surgery was that Thursday. The mass was Melanoma and there was another spot on my Left ovary that was also Melanoma.

Dec 17 2012 - Started my second round of Ipi (Yervoy) for the course of 4 infusions, 1 every 3 weeks.

Time to decide if I sign up for the PD-1 clinical trial or just be done with treatment.

March 16, 2013: Port placed to receive more treatment and blood draws

Start May 20, 2013

September 2013 - After months of issues with my cycle and chronic pain, it was finally decided that a hysterectomy was the best option. They encountered more bleeding than expected during the procedure and so I ended up with 3 scope incisions as well as a 4-5inch incision on my abdomen.