Emily's Community 

So as you know I have been diagnosed with Stage 4 (metastatic) melanoma, with approximately 25 tumors throughout my body and one particularly large tumor in my brain on my occipital lobe.  

 

I knew I had a small lump on the back of my skull for at least a year but didn't think much of it. Lumps and bumps are not uncommon and are normally something to very benign as long as they don't grow or cause problems elsewhere. In April, I found a small jelly bean sized lump under my arm near my armpit.  

 

On August 8th I had an appointment to see a dermatologist to inspect the lump on my left arm, which was now the size of a half-dollar. And a few smaller lumps in the surrounding area. He diagnosed it as a calcified cyst and scheduled her for removal on Sept 12.  As we waited for the Sept. 12 appointment, I was continuing to find many more lumps under the skin and the one of the back of her head had grown to golf-ball size.  The doctor did a biopsy and sent it to the lab for pathology testing instead of just removing the one on my arm. He did admit that his initial diagnosis may have been wrong and we were dealing with something entirely different.

 

Since June, I had begun to experience headaches and migraines. Started out as nothing that could not be treated with the occasional Tylenol. I thought at first that it was just cause of stress, changing my sleep schedule to night shift, etc. But by the time I had the biopsy, my headaches had significantly increased and I was having trouble keeping food down. We made an appointment with my primary physician who prescribed migraine meds. Starting that weekend I was experiencing double vision and dizziness, but nausea and headaches were getting better. I went to my doctor again on the 18th to see about fixing the double vision. They were not quite sure what was causing the double vision but thought that it may have something to do with something inside my head. So they ordered an MRI on the 20th which showed a brain tumor about the size of an unshelled walnut, along with several others outside the skull in the soft tissue. The tumor had been causing swelling to the back right side of my brain which explained the double vision. On Saturday, Sept. 22nd I got the pathology test from the biopsy on the back of my arm. It came back positive for metastatic melanoma. Since we had confirmation that it had spread to my brain it is stage IV melanoma. 

 

This is a very aggressive form of cancer and one of the deadliest and difficult skin cancers to treat. The fact that it has happened so quickly over the past maybe six months means that it is going to be difficult to treat but treatment options are out there and success rates, although not as good as some other cancers are improving with new forms of treatment. 

 

At this point, the only notable symptom of all of this is the fact that I still have double vision. Otherwise, I feel fine, other than the knowledge that I am continuing to grow tumors. I have hope because hope is out there. I'm not quite sure how much there is but the fact that its there is what I'm looking to. I am at a place that I can move on from wondering what this is and focusing on how I'm going to beat it. 

 

One of the biggest blessings and curses of all of this is that I am a nursing student that is almost graduated. I know what the future potentially holds both the good and the bad. I have studied this disease never thinking that it would one day be my diagnosis. To some extent this helps because I can think about it from both the clinical and personal perspective; the challenge is finding that balance between the two.

 

This is going to be a fight but it is a fight I'm am going to come through this one way or another. I know that with my Father in heaven and the massive family of His children He has given me, I will get through this.

 

So if you would like to be a part of this journey, I will try to keep it as updated as possible with what is going on.  But given that a lot will be happening, please be patient. Know that I am receiving all the love, support, prayers and am forever grateful and blessed. I am not wanting to keep what is happening to me a secret so please feel free to share with whomever you want.