Stage 4 Warrior

I was originally diagnosed with stage 3 in July 2013 with a mole on my back, left shoulder. 1 positive lymph node from the left axillary area left me needing a complete axillary dissection which happened in September of 2013. I tried my best with the only treatment that was offered to me at that time which was Interferon. It was too much for me, so I decided to just watch and wait.

All was good until July of 2018 when I went in for a regular scan and spots were found in my lungs. I had a right lung wedge resection performed 3 times on the lower right lung through an open thoracotomy which revealed that I was stage 4 with metastasis to the lung. After months and months of healing, I started the TOVI combos because my tumor was BRAF+.

In October of 2019, I had a brain MRI that showed multiple lesions on my brain. In November of 19, I had SRS brain radiation performed. I continued on my meds to have another spot found on my brain in August of 2020. This time on my brain stem.

I had 3 doses of SRS radiation in September of 2020 and I am currently stable still taking the TOVI combo and struggling with side effects but I'm here. 2 years since stage 4 diagnosis and 1 year since brain metastasis. Still fighting and so far, winning!