Chris France
It was Winter of 2011/2012, and I was having fun on a break from college; traveling and spending time with family and friends. I also made a stop by the dermatologist to get a mole removed from my chest because it was not aesthetically pleasing. I did not feel concerned at all when the doctor had it sent off to be biopsied – I just went on enjoying winter break before classes started up again.
Winter break ended and I woke up on Monday, the first day of what was going to be my last semester of college, to a voicemail from the dermatologist. The voicemail didn’t have much detail but his voice had some concern in it. He mentioned that I needed to call him back about the biopsy of the mole. I called back and he told me it came back positive for melanoma. He explained that my information had been passed along to the oncology surgeon already and that I had an appointment on Wednesday. Shortly after I got off the call with the dermatologist, I received a call from the oncology surgeon’s office confirming the Wednesday appointment. I called my parents and they had also already heard the news. They were supportive because so much was unknown besides the appointment and a mole testing positive for melanoma.
I ended up going to the start of my classes on Monday and Tuesday. I told my professors I just got some news and had to go to St. Louis for some doctor appointments and would miss class. Since everything was still an unknown to me, I said I would email them later in the week to find out what I would miss in class. After classes ended on Tuesday, I drove to St. Louis for my doctor’s appointment on Wednesday and finally got to be with my family. It was nice to be with them after the last couple of days getting things in order for the unknown of what was next.
Wednesday morning we arrived at the doctor’s office. Before the doctor even came into the room to talk to us we were notified I was scheduled for surgery the next day. So in three days’ time since the call about the biopsy, there were all these communications and scheduling just because of the mole. That is when I realized it was more serious than what I originally thought. There were a lot of tears when the doctor finally walked in and started explaining what melanoma is and provided more detail on melanoma. He examined my chest and explained the surgery that he would be performing. I was going to have the rest of the area of where the mole was taken out and two lymph nodes under my left armpit taken out and biopsied the following day. He also explained to me that I would need to visit with an oncologist. After leaving the doctor’s office knowing I had surgery the next day, I got some Imo’s pizza to help lighten the load.
The next day I went into surgery a little anxious, had a successful surgery, and went home later that day. I was in a lot of pain and discomfort. Then Sunday, I learned that the two lymph nodes from the Thursday surgery came back positive for melanoma. So I went back to the hospital the following day to have 12 lymph nodes removed. After this surgery I had to stay the night in the hospital and had a drainage tube sticking out of my side. Luckily those lymph nodes came back as being okay. After the lymph node removal surgery I could not use my left arm or lift it up more than a few inches. I had to do PT to help after recovering from the surgery.
Shortly after the surgeries, I met with my oncologist to plan the treatment for the melanoma. I ended up doing a year of interferon shots, one shot a week. The feeling was awful for a couple days each week after the shot. To best describe the feeling from interferon, it felt like I just did a hard workout the day prior, had the flu, and was hungover on top of that. The combo of those three things didn’t feel good trying to go to college and work and live a normal life, but I was able to adjust and find a good routine for giving myself the shots. Finishing up the year of injections was more challenging than the pain from the surgeries. Ringing the bell at Siteman Cancer Center was a nice feeling after finishing the treatments.
Before finding out I had melanoma I never thought I would get it. It was always going to be something I didn’t have to worry about even though I was outside all the time year-round. It just seemed like it was something that you hear about people getting and not how common it is. In high school I would wake up early and run at cross country and track practice until 11. Then the rest of the day I would work as a lifeguard at the pool. In college I continued to be outside year-round running for the cross country and track teams. I look back now and wish I had worn more sunscreen and sun protective shirts over those years. I will say I did look good having that good tan every summer, but now I’m very okay with skipping out on the good tan and hope others don’t look forward to tans or getting their first burn out of the way at the start of summer. Since finding out about the melanoma, I have had to safely adjust to being active outdoors by wearing sunscreen, shirts, and hats. I hope others practice sun safety while still getting to enjoy the outdoors.
