Andrew Wood
Meet Andrew Wood from Overland Park….Andrew’s story is a great reminder that melanoma can impact anyone…at any age!
Andrew’s story:
My parents called me into their bedroom the day before high school started, my dad’s voice was shaky, my mom was not talking (which does not usually occur) and her eyes swollen. Witnessing this at 14 years old I became flustered. What are they about to tell me? This short sentence was running through my head as I stood at the foot of their bed. The next three words my dad uttered through a shaky voice would come to shape the rest of my life. My dad reluctantly told me, “you have cancer”. The air became hot in the room, my stomach was on the floor. What do I say? More importantly, what do I do?
I would soon come to find out what exactly my diagnosis was and what the next steps were in treatment. However, not until six years later would I realize what cancer took from me and what it has given me. The initial site of the melanoma was on my scalp. It was a mole that was itching and bleeding. I went to the dermatologist with my dad and had it biopsied. That year I would have three surgeries: a wide local excision, sentinel node biopsy, and finally a radical neck dissection. After these surgeries I was officially diagnosed with stage IIIA melanoma. At the time I was in the care of Children’s Mercy Hospital and it was recommended that adjuvant therapy start. In 2015 the standard adjuvant therapy for a melanoma patient was interferon. So, for the next year three times a week I would roll up my shirt, pinch some skin on my stomach, and have my mom or dad inject the interferon with a syringe. Over these twelve months I attended physical therapy three times a week to gain back my motion and strength in my left arm after the radical neck dissection left it dysfunctional due to nerve damage. This was my freshman year of high school.
Unfortunately, my battle with cancer did not stop after the year of interferon ended. I was in remission just under a year when an enlarged lymph node appeared behind my ear that was palpable. I had my fourth surgery. I had cancer again. Having had melanoma at such a young age and then a reoccurrence, it was recommended I see an oncologist who focuses on melanoma. At this point my care was transferred to the University of Kansas Cancer Center. At KU I met the most vital people to my young teenage life. Per new recommendations, I started on a different immunotherapy treatment named OPDIVO. The comparison between interferon and OPDIVO is like sleeping on a bed of fire to sleeping on a memory foam hybrid adjustable Tempur-Pedic mattress. Once I started OPDIVO a subcutaneous tumor appeared behind my ear in the same general location of the enlarged lymph node that was removed a month earlier. I once again had cancer and it was time for my second radical neck dissection along with a partial removal of my salivary gland. I had many more months of physical therapy succeeding the second radical neck dissection. During this time, I had five rounds of radiation targeted towards my cheek and neck area. Not being able to swallow your own saliva without excruciating pain was a low point, but it only lasted for a month. I finished the year of OPDIVO and since then have been cancer free.
Cancer took a normal high school experience away from me, took hours from the days I was in bed by 6:00pm, took away my chance at playing professional soccer, took a physical and mental toll that to this day is even still hard to explain. What it didn’t take was my optimism, my smile, my family, the chance to play soccer again in some capacity, my life. Cancer has given me a unique life experience, closer relationships to those who helped in my care, and arguably the most important thing- a passion and drive for medicine. I am now starting my junior year at Clemson University, pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering with the intent to attend medical school. I would like to be just like my oncologist at the University of Kansas Cancer Center and be on the other side of the exam room guiding patients and families as they navigate the most trying of circumstances.
This is my short summary of my encounter with cancer. There are so many similar stories, some longer and some shorter. In each of these stories you will find some variation of the same sentence, “I wish I wore sunscreen as a child”, “I shouldn’t have used those tanning beds”, “I am going to wear sunscreen everyday now, I don’t want cancer again”, “I will make sure everyone I love and know takes sun protection measures”. There are simple and effective measures that you can take in your everyday life to decrease the chances of developing skin cancer, and I hope this one story has shown you, you need to take them.
