Doug vs. Melanoma
Donation protected
As many of you know, my big brother Doug and Angelica had an adorable, happy, healthy baby boy last November!!! Around the same time he noticed a mole on his left arm. He didn't think anything of it until a few months later when it started to increase in size. Being a new dad didn't leave him much time to worry about himself. With all the late night feedings and random sleep schedules, with most the time no sleep at all, he finally got around to getting it checked. And our family's worst fear came true. when the labs and pathology reports came back, the mole was classified as early stage 4 skin cancer. Yes he has skin cancer! Doug was without health insurance for the first few months of this ordeal so the bills piled up. He has insurance now. Thank god!
Cancer sucks, not much else to say about it! Its not supposed to be a concern when you're in your 30s, with a new baby! Throughout his whole life, my brother has been the one to drop everything and help his family, friends, and others around him. Not only is he caring and willing to put others before himself, but he knows exactly how to put a smile on the faces of everyone around him while doing it. It breaks my heart that he has to go through this. He has surgery on August 6th to take out some lymph nodes to see if the cancer has spread. They are also going to take out a large area of his arm where the spot originally was. After that we expect him to need some kind of immunotherapy. Throughout his recovery and further treatment he will be limited in his daily activities. His amazing girlfriend, Angelica, will take care of him and Adrian. They have a long road ahead of them and he also needs our help!
I'll post an update after his surgery when we know more! Thank you all very much!
**Update 8/17/2018**
Doug had surgery on August 6th, his recovery is going well he’s still very sore, especially in his under arm where they took out the lymph nodes. He’s going to have a pretty sweet 5 inch scar on his arm where they removed the area around the mole. The pathology report came back yesterday, they removed 3 lymph nodes, one came back positive for melanoma. The oncologist went over a few different options and they chose to be aggressive. He will have another surgery September 10th to remove more lymph nodes. He still can not work and can not hold Adrian due to his stitches. He surprises me every day with his positive attitude and strength! He will not let this get him down!
The support, feedback, and shares we’ve gotten has warmed our hearts and means the world to us! Everyone that has reach out to him has helped give him strength and hope!

Cancer sucks, not much else to say about it! Its not supposed to be a concern when you're in your 30s, with a new baby! Throughout his whole life, my brother has been the one to drop everything and help his family, friends, and others around him. Not only is he caring and willing to put others before himself, but he knows exactly how to put a smile on the faces of everyone around him while doing it. It breaks my heart that he has to go through this. He has surgery on August 6th to take out some lymph nodes to see if the cancer has spread. They are also going to take out a large area of his arm where the spot originally was. After that we expect him to need some kind of immunotherapy. Throughout his recovery and further treatment he will be limited in his daily activities. His amazing girlfriend, Angelica, will take care of him and Adrian. They have a long road ahead of them and he also needs our help!
I'll post an update after his surgery when we know more! Thank you all very much!
**Update 8/17/2018**
Doug had surgery on August 6th, his recovery is going well he’s still very sore, especially in his under arm where they took out the lymph nodes. He’s going to have a pretty sweet 5 inch scar on his arm where they removed the area around the mole. The pathology report came back yesterday, they removed 3 lymph nodes, one came back positive for melanoma. The oncologist went over a few different options and they chose to be aggressive. He will have another surgery September 10th to remove more lymph nodes. He still can not work and can not hold Adrian due to his stitches. He surprises me every day with his positive attitude and strength! He will not let this get him down!
The support, feedback, and shares we’ve gotten has warmed our hearts and means the world to us! Everyone that has reach out to him has helped give him strength and hope!
Organizer
Doug Swanson
Organizer
East Providence, RI
