Timeline

Here is a brief breakdown of the major events in my life dealing with cancer:

May 2011 - Diagnosed with Stage IIB (T3bN0M0) Melanoma

June 2011 - Undergo wide excision surgery to remove primary site. Sentinel lymph node biopsy and skin tissue report no evidence of disease.

July 2012 - Discover enlarged lymph node in groin is positive for melanoma. Undergo lymph node dissection of the groin. Tumor is removed. No evidence of disease spread into my lymph nodes. Diagnosed as Stage IIIB (T3bN1bM0)

October 2012 - Begin peginterferon alfa-2b (Sylatron) injections once per week for cancer treatment.

April 2013 - Routine PET scan reveals possible Stage IV metastatic melanoma in lungs and chest cavity.

June 2013 - Lung biopsy confirms metastatic melanoma. Begin clinical trial which sequences drug treatments vemurafenib/ipilimumab (Zelboraf/Yervoy). Start with vemurafenib for six weeks.

August 2013 - End vemurafenib, start ipilimumab phase. Tumor shrinkage of about 50% since June.

September 2013 - About six weeks and two infusions into the ipilimumab cycle, gastrointestinal issues arise. Suspended infusions until further tests can be arranged.

October 2013 - Colonoscopy comes back clean, steroid use clears up inflammation. Infusions resume.

November 2013 - Gastrointestinal inflammation returns, ipilimumab infusions suspended again.

December 2013 - Suspend ipilimumab indefinitely, go back on vemurafenib.

January 2014 - Admitted to hospital for back pain management. Diagnosis: compression fractures in nine vertabra due to steroid-induced osteoporosis. After four weeks in the hospital, undergoing kyphoplasties, and two weeks at an in-patient rehab facility, returned home. Remain on vemurafenib.

April 2014 - CT scan shows stable disease. Two mets remaining less than 1 cm in size.

May 2014 - Experienced a partial seizure; admitted to hospital for five days. Both head CT and MRI showed bleeding, but no mass detected. Sent home on anti-seizure meds.

June 2014 - Follow-up brain MRI does reveal a mass on the left frontal lobe. Participation in clinical trial ends, and vemurafenib is suspended. Undergo craniotomy to excise the tumor.

July 2014 - Radiation treatments to "clean up" the miniscule fragments of the tumor left behind in the brain.