One question I wanted to ask Dr. Evan Lipson today at Robert’s follow-up appointment at the new Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Hospital was, what does it mean for a melanoma patient to reach the five-year milestone after apparently successful resection of his cancer?
Robert had scans at Sibley yesterday and got the results today - no evidence of disease! Notably for me, I had no scanxiety this time. I guess we've both come a long way since his melanoma diagnosis in May 2012.
Even if 3 ½ years is not a milestone generally marked in cancer survival, we came away from our visit with Dr. Evan Lipson at Johns Hopkins University Hospital yesterday with smiles and relief on two fronts. Not only does Robert continue to show no evidence of disease after his primary melanoma was removed in June 2012, but the report we heard on progress in melanoma research since his diagnosis is exciting and encouraging.
Our annual trips to Johns Hopkins for Robert’s participation in a follow-up study after his melanoma vaccine trial have become fairly routine. Leave about 7 a.m., check in by 8:30, CT scan and brain MRI, go see the blood-sucker, fit in lunch somewhere along the way, and then see Dr. Lipson early in the afternoon. Today we were home about 2:30. Easy up, easy back, and no news is good news. No evidence of disease.
Results from Robert's scans on Monday are in, and they show no evidence of disease!!! Such good news as we approach the two-year mark after surgery that took the remaining detectable melanoma out of his body.
Surprisingly, I had only a little scanxiety this time around. There are several possible explanations for this change.
A common theme on melanoma discussion forums is frustration with the length of time between scans when when patients are on the “watch and wait” regimen after being told there is no evidence of disease. It’s been bugging me lately – probably because I needed to have something to stew about to ward off scanxiety as we approach Robert’s six-month scans in early June.
When we first found out about Robert’s melanoma, we did what we had to do just to survive. I couldn’t begin to walk back into that scene and tell you how I was feeling at the time, or analyze it and tell you how we learned to cope. But I have a few suggestions for caregivers of newly diagnosed melanoma patients, stemming from my experience during those first few months.
A case in Robert’s law practice has got me thinking about what happens in humans’ brains when we see or hear something without any context. One issue has to do with what government investigators thought they were hearing on a wiretap. I hope what I’m learning from thinking about this will apply not only to my life with an N.E.D. cancer survivor (one with No Evidence of Disease) but also to other circumstances of my, and my family’s, life.
Maybe someday scanxiety will stop having such a hold on me. It persisted through the long time (almost a week) that it took for Hopkins to post the results of all the tests Robert had done last week. The reports I read last night confirmed what Dr. Lipson found at our visit last Tuesday – no evidence of disease. Whew!
For a while it seemed as though I might escape the dreadful scanxiety this time. But as we approach Robert’s appointment at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday, it’s making up for lost time ... I’m sleeping poorly, awake during the night, waking up hard (not refreshed) in the morning after strange dreams.