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As the holidays are coming up, my family was hit with some rough news when we found out my older sister, Shaney, has stage three Melanoma Cancer.
Early this year in April she noticed a mole on her arm start to change and all around not look so good and tried to get into a dermatologist to see what was going on. She tried for months to get into one but was denied by everywhere she went due to the pandemic going on. On 11/13 she finally was finally able to get into a primary care office. A punch hole biopsy was done, with assurance by the doctor that everything was "probably fine." A few days went by and on 11/17 she got the call stating she had a malignant melanoma tumor in her upper left arm and was immediately referred to an oncologist. The oncologist told her that she HAD to have a PET/CT scan and to find a surgeon for a wide excision of the cancerous tumor and an axillary sentinel biopsy.
11/19 she met with a surgeon who had her PET-CT results and revealed to us that her melanoma has spread to her lymph nodes and that they will need to perform a wide excision and a sentinel lymph node biopsy and removal. One day later on 11/20 her doctor called back informing her that the cancer was so deep that she was at extreme high risk for it to spread to her brain. She's scheduled for an MRI Monday evening and has surgery on Wednesday the 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. A week after her surgery she will be starting immunotherapy infusion treatments every 2-3 weeks for the next year and every 3 months will need PET-CT Scans and MRI's until she has a clear scan. If the immunotherapy doesn't shrink or destroy any of the cancer she will have to do localized radiation.
Anyone who knows her knows she's the most outgoing person and absolutely loves and adores her cats, Sabbath and Lil Peep and is a HUGE true crime fanatic. She's extremely bubbly, genuine, kind, and full of so much personality and will do anything she can to help others in need. Growing up, we weren't very close but now she is my best friend and I want to do everything I can to help her since she can no longer work and medical costs and even basic living costs will now be 10x harder for her to manage as she takes on all expenses by herself. She also has to go through everything alone due to the pandemic, and I'm asking for help so I can ease some of the stress on her shoulders. I'm beyond thankful for any of those who can help out and I know Shaney will be too!
Early this year in April she noticed a mole on her arm start to change and all around not look so good and tried to get into a dermatologist to see what was going on. She tried for months to get into one but was denied by everywhere she went due to the pandemic going on. On 11/13 she finally was finally able to get into a primary care office. A punch hole biopsy was done, with assurance by the doctor that everything was "probably fine." A few days went by and on 11/17 she got the call stating she had a malignant melanoma tumor in her upper left arm and was immediately referred to an oncologist. The oncologist told her that she HAD to have a PET/CT scan and to find a surgeon for a wide excision of the cancerous tumor and an axillary sentinel biopsy.
11/19 she met with a surgeon who had her PET-CT results and revealed to us that her melanoma has spread to her lymph nodes and that they will need to perform a wide excision and a sentinel lymph node biopsy and removal. One day later on 11/20 her doctor called back informing her that the cancer was so deep that she was at extreme high risk for it to spread to her brain. She's scheduled for an MRI Monday evening and has surgery on Wednesday the 25th, the day before Thanksgiving. A week after her surgery she will be starting immunotherapy infusion treatments every 2-3 weeks for the next year and every 3 months will need PET-CT Scans and MRI's until she has a clear scan. If the immunotherapy doesn't shrink or destroy any of the cancer she will have to do localized radiation.
Anyone who knows her knows she's the most outgoing person and absolutely loves and adores her cats, Sabbath and Lil Peep and is a HUGE true crime fanatic. She's extremely bubbly, genuine, kind, and full of so much personality and will do anything she can to help others in need. Growing up, we weren't very close but now she is my best friend and I want to do everything I can to help her since she can no longer work and medical costs and even basic living costs will now be 10x harder for her to manage as she takes on all expenses by herself. She also has to go through everything alone due to the pandemic, and I'm asking for help so I can ease some of the stress on her shoulders. I'm beyond thankful for any of those who can help out and I know Shaney will be too!
Organizer and beneficiary
Shaney Swank
Beneficiary