Lindsey Mills
Hi everyone! My name is Lindsey Mills, I’m 36 years old and my journey with cancer started in November of 2014 at the age of 30.
I had a suspicious mole on my right shoulder removed during a skin check from my dermatologist. The biopsy came back as melanoma. I had heard of Melanoma, but I had no idea what this diagnosis really meant. Because of the size and depth, it required me to undergo a major wide local excision surgery. I also had 2 lymph nodes removed near the site to ensure it hadn’t spread. My results from the surgery were great! They were able to get clear margins and my lymph nodes came back clear. I felt like I had dodged a bullet!
After the initial surgery my dermatologist suggested I get skin checks every 3 months. Over the next two years I had several minor surgeries to remove pre-cancerous melanomas and now have had a total of 23 moles removed. After my initial surgery, I started seeing an oncologist to monitor my health. Part of my routine care involved periodic CT scans of all my major organs every 6 months. All my scans had been clear of any disease or cancer until February of 2016.
This scan showed several pulmonary nodules in my left and one in my right lung. The spots were extremely small, too small to even biopsy and so we waited, and watched the spots grow. When we realized these spots were suspicious, my routine CT scans were bumped up to every 3 months instead of 6. Finally, these suspicious spots were big enough to biopsy and the moment of truth came after two separate lung biopsies. My results showed that my melanoma had spread to my lungs. I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma in May of 2017. My doctor believed we had caught it early and because of a gene mutation I was able to do targeted therapy through a clinical trial through the University of Kansas Cancer Center.
My story is all too familiar and so similar to others who have faced and continue to fight Melanoma. Melanoma is a silent killer, and had it not been for routine checks and early detection I may not be here today. Since the start of target therapy 3 years ago I can say today I am cancer free! I am still on the clinical trial and will be for the foreseeable future. I have been incredibly lucky to have had minimal side effects.
Melanoma is not a death sentence! As a cancer survivor I walk the line every day to choose hope or fear. Fear of a reoccurrence or hope for a bright future. Some days fear wins and it’s a dark place, but during those time I have leaned on my faith, family and close friends. I am a changed person as cancer has allowed me to experience life in a whole new way, life’s highs have never been higher and life’s sorrows ring deeper as every day has never been more precious to me than it is now. There is hope, keep on fighting!
