Dad vs Late Stage Melanoma: The Coming End

<> A PORTRAIT IN WORDS <>

Jim Padjune. JP. Dad. A title searcher in Pittsburgh, PA. My dad has always had a high metabolism and a huge appetite and love for food. He's always been a nature enthusiast, making sure his kids got plenty of time outside and could hike, fish, and hunt. An avid gamer, my father is the one that turned us kids on to video games. The Legend of Zelda. Castlevania. Mario. Donkey Kong Country. Banjo Kazooie. He's always loved anything that involves puzzles to solve, including mind-teasers and Scrabble. He taught all of us kids a love for the English language and the importance of a good vocabulary, common sense, and critical thinking.

If you know him, you know he has a passion for talking. His voice fills up a room and he always knows how to make people crack up. Even when he's not joking around, he loves talking about his numerous interests and hobbies: collecting coins, comic books, big foot, all the crazy antics he got up to 30+ years ago. He loves golfing. He loves watching documentaries on the history channel. He loves action-adventure movies.

He has always been the guy to call if you needed help with something, whether you're a family member, a friend, or just someone he knows around from the neighborhood. Need your brakes changed? He's your guy. Need a drive to work because you're out of gas? He's your guy. He's always been the first to lend a helping hand where he can. I know my sister can't forget that time she broke down on the turnpike 4+ hours away from home, and he was on his way within minutes. No questions asked.

He's been able to see all three of his children graduate, grow into adulthood, find love, and get married. He was able to welcome his first grandchild less than a year ago, and when he first heard the news, he said that it gave him a new lease on life.

Sadly, since then, he's been dealing with a number of health issues that have made him a shell of himself. After initially thinking he had a simple ear infection, things quickly went downhill. He was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, where he experienced the debilitating paralysis of half of his face, and rashes that made him unable to be around his then-pregnant daughter and newborn grandson. He struggled to eat and talk and make full-face expressions. He still cannot hear from that side.

And we all thought that was bad, then. That was before the cancer diagnosis.

To see my father now... he can eat even less than before, he has lost so much weight, he is frail and weak, his skin tone is gray, he bruises easily, and he has huge, horrible, coughs that wrack his whole body. He forgets things and gets sad. He is but a shadow of who he once was, and we fear he will not be around much longer.

He told my sister that for a lot of his life, his goal was to make it to his youngest child's high school graduation. Then he wanted to outlive his beloved dogs, Sosha and Bella. After the diagnosis, he told her that his current goal is to make it to his grandson's first birthday. As of right now, that's only a little more than a month away. That's how bleak he's seeing things right now. He can tell his body isn't working to get better, that it's simply working its best to hold on.

<> THE BACKGROUND <>

On April 5th 2025, following a year plus of serious health problems, my father was diagnosed with cancer. And with a gut punch, we were told that it was metastatic... having already spread to various parts of his body. The origin site and original type of cancer unknown.

It has been 17 days since that diagnosis and we have learned much more, none of it good.

At his most recent appointment we learned that the doctor studied his recent scans and test results and that this appointment was mostly a come-to-Jesus kind of meeting.

They did not specify a stage number. Simply confirmed that it is advanced stage melanoma (skin cancer) and all they can do now is try to slow it down using immunotherapy treatments. Melanoma comes on fast and can show up, spread through a person and kill them in 6 weeks. It's a very aggressive thing and Dad was told that it just happens, that it wasn't caused by anything specific he did like smoking or drinking.

His liver is more than half gone, meaning that it has parts that have been fully ravaged by the cancer... but the liver is a miraculous thing and can go through a lot and still do its job. However, they did tell him that his liver is in the wrong place. It moved and changed its position in his body. It's pushing on the hernia that he's had for 10+ years, and that's what's making it pop out and it is pushing on other things inside him, which is contributing to the pain, shortness of breath and altered digestion he has been dealing with.

While there is some blood in his urine tests and his blood count and platelets have been slightly low, the black color of his urine is there because he's peeing out melanin. This is called Melanuria and is an indicator of melanoma.

There are 2 ways they can go with treatment. Medium risk with possible medium yield and then high risk with possible high yield. Dad chose the high risk option and they'll be starting right away. A positive outcome could give him 5 more years and we are holding onto hope fiercely but Dad, ever practical, knows the chances of this and has asked us to truly consider the future, knowing that he has little time left.

He gave the medical team permission to take samples of his blood and tissue as he goes through this so that he can help the research and advancement of treatment for others.

Is it better to not know what's coming than to anticipate and dread it? While he wishes he could've gone on oblivious and just not known about all of this, he also knows that his best chances for as much time with us as possible is to know about it and fight.

<> A FEW SIMPLE REQUESTS <>

Below, please find his requests. They are simple but heart felt:

1) Help him enjoy the time he has left. Don't baby him. Rather, respect the strength it takes to shoulder this weight and support him when and how you can.

2) Understand that he wishes to be as active and engaged as possible in the future he has left. But please, do not push him past what he can safely accomplish or participate in.

3) This is a lot for anyone to handle, please understand that sometimes the fear and emotional imbalance this causes will bubble to the surface or explode out of him and that it may be directed at anyone depending on various circumstances. If this happens just disengage and give him space to work through things at his own pace.

4) Communicate and talk with your loved ones. You never know how much time a person has or what will happen.

5) If possible, please share and/or donate (if possible) to our End Of Days fund. He appreciates any help you are willing to give.

*We are also accepting donations here via the Family & Friends option here: PayPal

<> GOALS & THE BIG ASK <>

With this all being said, he has started his preparations for the end so that our family can be as prepared as possible when it comes. If he has touched your life in any positive way, please consider donating to this cause and help him go forward with less worry about the future to come.