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This blog was his chronicle after receiving a diagnosis of Stage IV melanoma in his lungs in early 2013, and then in the brain in 2014. After his craniotomy and radiation treatments in August 2014, he decided to stop blogging. I still couldn't tell you why, because he never fully explained to me, but I suspect that he didn't feel that the story was going to end well. And it did not.
I will try to recap what happened after August of 2014 as briefly as I think possible, but so much occurred in the time since his last post.
In Sept 2014, he received a single infusion of pembrolizumab (Keytruda), the Merck PD1 immunotherapy. He was still under the care of Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute. A CT Scan done a few days earlier showed stable disease on the right lung (two tumors) and no new disease overall. He had ongoing speech and occupational outpatient therapy as well.
After that one-and-only infusion of pembrolizumab, Matt suffered fever, nausea, occasional vomiting, no appetite, and several infections (pink eye, UTI, flu) over the course of six weeks. He lost twenty pounds - with visible loss of muscle mass - and was severely weakened. After two hospitalizations, infection was ruled out as primary cause and "drug fever" from pembrolizumab was blamed. He started on prednisone again (ugh). The good news at the time was that lesions remained stable/improved and his onco team said no treatment needed, especially given his complications.
Going into 2015, he remained stable without any treatment. He still had lingering bouts of hot flashes / chills / nausea about 1-2 times a week, but it was manageable.
An April MRI of the brain showed slight increase in necrosis activity. This was the likely cause of continued seizures, speech deficits, and right arm/hand dexterity loss. And as the months passed, we saw continued worsening of those symptoms. In August, scans showed increased swelling and blood and/or tumor in the brain. He went in for his second craniotomy on Aug 27, confirming recurrence. He was initially too weak on the right side to stand/walk, but recovery was fast. He went to an acute rehab after just a few days.
While at rehab, Matt suffered a hemorrhagic stroke in the resection cavity. He underwent another craniotomy just 11 days since the previous. The stroke caused a lot of damage and Matt was left with severe right-side weakness and speech problems (aphasia/apraxia). He was again discharged to acute rehab, but troubles were far from over.
A DVT (blood clot) in the right leg extended and caused severe pain and swelling. Matt was re-admitted to begin anticoagulant treatment under observation, due to the brain bleed risk. Treatment was successful, but he had an episode of brain swelling that was managed in the Neuro ICU with high salt IV therapy. He was again discharged back to acute rehab. After a few good days, he then had another episode of brain swelling. After several hard discussions with the medical team, Matt opted to go home under hospice support and forgo further intervention and hospitalization. Further interventions -- whether medical, surgical, or radiation -- would not improve quality of life. And Matt was ready to be home, whether it was for another week or month.
On Oct 21, 2015, Matt went home under the care of hospice. At first he did quite surprisingly well for about a month. He received home PT and OT which helped strengthen him enough to be independent in dressing and wheelchair transfers. After Thanksgiving, though, the slow decline began.
On Feb 8, 2016, he got himself dressed and into his wheelchair on his own. He watched a Metallica concert recorded a few days prior. The next day, he did not have the energy to get out of bed. That night, he became unresponsive and died within 48 hours. He was surrounded by me (his wife), his parents, and my family and closest friends.
Matthew J. Furman
August 20, 1979 - February 11, 2016
Forever in the hearts of his wife, parents, family, and friends
